Cynthia Erivo And Ariana Grande Defy Gravity In The Stunning Wicked Super Bowl Trailer

Hollywood has been wanting to turn Stephen Schwartz's smash hit musical "Wicked" into a movie for well over 10 years. I remember reading news stories about potential directors as far back as 2010, long before "In the Heights" filmmaker Jon M. Chu eventually signed on to bring this "Wizard of Oz" prequel story to the big screen. Now Universal Pictures has finally released the first trailer for the film, which is set long before Dorothy crashes her way into the Land of Oz. The adaptation of the beloved musical follows the doomed friendship between two witches: Galinda, the eventual Good Witch of the South (played here by pop superstar Ariana Grande), and the green-skinned Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West (played by Broadway veteran and actor Cynthia Erivo).

If this trailer is any indication, it looks like the years-long wait may have been worth it: Chu and his team have crafted a film that feels absolutely gigantic and treats this story with the type of love and care that the most ardent fans have dared to hope for. Erivo and Grande both look like they're giving it their all, and it's always a pleasure to see Michelle Yeoh (Madame Morrible) and Jeff Goldblum (The Wizard of Oz) pop up as well.

But there may be one big thing that could hold this adaptation back from being a classic in its own right. One of the biggest criticisms of movies like "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" and "Fast X" last year was that their cliffhanger endings made those films feel like incomplete stories. In 2022, Universal announced it would be splitting "Wicked" into a two-part event, and that's certainly a risky approach to telling this tale. The studio seems to be banking on there being enough goodwill built up for "Wicked" that audiences won't respond to this split quite as negatively as those other examples. If Chu decides to split this film at the same point where the stage musical was split, with the most epic and memorable song, "Defying Gravity," ending the first movie, at least he'll be able to send audiences out on a high note and potentially minimize some of the grumbling that might happen when people realize they'll have to pay to see the conclusion of this story later.

While Universal was initially eying a Christmas release for this movie, part one of "Wicked" has since been moved up closer to Thanksgiving: The film is currently slated to fly into theaters on November 27, 2024.