Wicked was a huge success when it opened in theaters last year, grossing over $756 million at the worldwide box office. Now, the epic story will conclude in the second half of the iconic musical, Wicked: For Good.
Empire Magazine (via SFFGazette.com) has shared two new Wicked: For Good covers, along with a still featuring what seems to be a tense moment between the Wicked Witch Of The West, the heroic Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), and Glinda the Good Witch (Ariana Grande).
"There’s no real endgame for friendship: no wedding, no baby," filmmaker Jon M. Chu says of the duo's unique bond. "The test for friendship is the darkness, the fight, the saving each other, and it explores all these things. Friendship often has to end in our lives, but it doesn’t devalue the moment."
In Erivo's eyes, it's the depiction of that friendship that lends the Wicked franchise its true power. "I think sometimes we underestimate how powerful friendships can be. Often when we see women on screen together, they’re adversaries, and rarely do you see women in the centre of a film being friends."
"I think sometimes people find it hard to believe that people have really good relationships as friends, so sometimes it becomes warped or sexualised. With this, what was really beautiful is that I think people started to go with us."
Reflecting on the intense process of shooting Wicked and Wicked: For Good back to back, Grande said, "It was a long series of shoot days. I just remember at that point really not being sure where Glinda ended and I began. Those were such devastating days, but beautiful."
$1 billion hits no longer come easy to Hollywood in the wake of the pandemic, but it's not hard to imagine this sequel reaching that level of success. Universal Pictures is said to be mulling over various other sequels and prequels, which we're sure will follow somewhere down the line.
In the meantime, Wicked: For Good has all the makings of becoming 2025's biggest box office hit. In terms of U.S. titles, Lilo & Stitch is the current #1 with over $1 billion. However, it's the only movie to reach that figure, as A Minecraft Movie ($957 million) and Jurassic World Rebirth ($865 million) came up short.
Check out this new look at Wicked: For Good in the social posts below.
Wicked: For Good is the final chapter of the untold story of the witches of Oz, which begins with Elphaba and Glinda estranged and living with the consequences of their choices.
Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), now demonised as The Wicked Witch of the West, lives in exile, hidden within the Ozian forest while continuing her fight for the freedom of Oz’s silenced Animals and desperately trying to expose the truth she knows about The Wizard (Jeff Goldblum).
Glinda, meanwhile, has become the glamorous symbol of Goodness for all of Oz, living at the palace in Emerald City and revelling in the perks of fame and popularity. Under the instruction of Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), Glinda is deployed to serve as an effervescent comfort to Oz, reassuring the masses that all is well under the rule of The Wizard.
As Glinda’s stardom expands and she prepares to marry Prince Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) in a spectacular Ozian wedding, she is haunted by her separation from Elphaba. She attempts to broker a conciliation between Elphaba and The Wizard, but those efforts will fail, driving Elphaba and Glinda only further apart. The aftershocks will transform Boq (Ethan Slater) and Fiyero forever, and threaten the safety of Elphaba’s sister, Nessarose (Marissa Bode), when a girl from Kansas comes crashing into all their lives.
As an angry mob rises against the Wicked Witch, Glinda and Elphaba will need to come together one final time. With their singular friendship now the fulcrum of their futures, they will need to truly see each other, with honesty and empathy, if they are to change themselves and all of Oz, for good.
Wicked: For Good arrives in theaters on November 21.