Rotten Tomatoes describes Ariana Grande’s performance in “WICKED” as “epic” and also say Ariana is at her “vocal peak”

Rotten Tomatoes describes Ariana Grande’s performance in “WICKED” as “epic” and also say Ariana is at her “vocal peak”.

Something magical is happening in Oz, and audiences are finally getting a glimpse of all the green and pink action.

Universal brought the first-ever footage of Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda in the movie version of “Wicked” to CinemaCon, the annual movie theater owners convention in Las Vegas. Erivo and Grande weren’t on hand to perform, but viewers were able to hear the captivating sounds of classic Broadway tunes like “Defying Gravity” and “Popular” in the background of the dazzling, magical footage.

The long-in-the-works Broadway adaptation which tells the untold story of the Witches of Oz is divided into two parts, Nov. 27 and Wicked Part 2 for Dec. 25, 2025 release. The pic is based on the bestselling novel by Gregory Maguire and adapted for the screen by the stage production’s book writer Winne Holzman and composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz.Jeff Goldbum, Jonathan Bailey and Ethan Slater also star. Platt is producing through Marc Platt Productions alongside David Stone, with Senior EVP Production Erik Baiers and VP Production Development Lexi Barta overseeing for the studio.

The never-before-seen clip begins as Michelle Yeoh’s Madame Morrible works with the green-skinned Elphaba to help her control her gift. “Once you learn to harness your emotions, the sky is the limit,” Morrible tells her student.

The featurette gives a sense of the sweeping, brightly lit set and includes scenes of Elphaba roaming the halls of Shiz University before meeting Glinda, who presents her new roommate with that iconic pointy black hat. (It’s really, uh, sharp. Don’t you think?) Later in the trailer, Jeff Goldblum makes an appearance as the wonderful Wizard of Oz, the blonde-haired Glinda transports by bubble and Elphaba sports her signature broomstick.

Elphaba getting trained by Michelle Yeoh’s Madame Morrible. The footage was a BTS reel too with Chu exclaiming “I knew what this movie would be” and how he always wanted to do it for the big screen. Chu said that Cynthia and Ariana came in and blew the roof off. “The chemistry between Ariana and Cynthia is real and palpable,” said producer Marc Platt. A lush production design better than Into the Woods and even Oz the Great and Powerful. To recreate Emerald City, Chu planted 9 million non-CGI tulips.