Universal Pictures and Marc Platt, who both produced the stage musical, announced the film adaptation in 2012. After a long development and multiple delays, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Chu was hired to direct, with Erivo and Grande cast in 2021. The adaptation was split into two parts to avoid omitting plot points and further develop the characters. Principal photography on both films began in December 2022 in England, was interrupted in July 2023 by the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, and resumed and concluded in January 2024.
Wicked: For Good premiered at the Suhai Music Hall in São Paulo, Brazil on November 4, 2025, and is scheduled for release in the United States on November 21.[6] The film received mixed reviews from critics, who lauded the musical segments and performances of Grande and Erivo, although it wasn't as highly praised as its predecessor.
Plot
Five years after the events of the first film, the political landscape of Oz is fully established. Elphaba is known as the Wicked Witch of the West due to her defiance of the Wizard's regime and her attempts to free any Animals the Wizard has imprisoned. Glinda has been positioned by Madame Morrible as the Wizard's spokesperson. Fiyero, now Captain of the Guard, attempts to track Elphaba down. However, Glinda deliberately misleads him, insisting that Elphaba is happier in isolation.
Hiding in the western forest, Elphaba feels nostalgic about her childhood and, seeking assistance, decides to visit Nessarose, who has inherited their father's governorship of Munchkinland. To prevent Boq from abandoning her, Nessarose has stripped the Munchkins of their meager rights. When Elphaba arrives, Nessa complains about her not using her magic to help with her disability, prompting Elphaba to enchant Nessa's shoes, granting her the ability to fly. However, Boq, convinced she no longer needs him, attempts to depart, seeking Glinda's affection. Enraged, she tries to bind him with a love spell, but botches the incantation, shrinking his heart instead. Elphaba's attempt to save him transforms him into a tin man.
Elphaba returns to the Emerald City to liberate the Wizard's flying monkey slaves, only to be found out by the Wizard. He, alongside Glinda, once more implores her to join forces with him, freeing the monkeys in exchange. Elphaba almost accepts, but reconsiders after spotting a feral Dr. Dillamond and all the other encaged animals. She redeclares her intention to fight the Wizard and frees the animals just as Glinda and Fiyero are to be wed in the grand hall of Emerald Palace. Fiyero helps Elphaba escape and joins her, much to Glinda's devastation. A vengeful Glinda convinces the Wizard and Morrible to lure Elphaba out by spreading a rumor that Nessarose is in danger, but Morrible decides a simple rumor would not fool Elphaba and proposes "a change in the weather."
In the forest, Elphaba and Fiyero confess their mutual love for each other. She leaves after sensing that Nessarose is in danger, and he directs her to an abandoned castle his family owns for shelter. She finds out that a tornado sent by Morrible has taken a house from the human world, which fatally crushed Nessa. Realizing that Glinda has given Nessa's enchanted shoes to the house's occupant, a girl from Kansas named Dorothy Gale, Elphaba duels her before being restrained by the Wizard's guards. Fiyero arrives and sacrifices himself to protect her, allowing her to escape.
At Kiamo Ko castle, Elphaba desperately casts a spell from the Grimmerie to save Fiyero as she decides to embrace her evil reputation. Later, the Wizard instructs Dorothy and her friends to kill the witch. Boq rallies the Citizens of Oz to form an angry mob to destroy Elphaba. Glinda watches the mob from her quarter, realizes she needs to come out of her bubble and do what is right. She learns that Morrible created the tornado and confronts her about it, but Morrible tells Glinda that she is powerless and should do what she does best: stay silent and be a public image to the people of Oz.
Elphaba catches and imprisons Dorothy to retrieve the shoes, but Glinda arrives to stop her. Elphaba receives a message from Chistery. Learning of the upcoming mob, Elphaba decides to surrender and makes Glinda vow not to tell anyone the truth as that will risk turning the people against Glinda as well. The two share a tearful goodbye. Glinda hides and watches from the shadows as Dorothy throws a bucket of water on Elphaba, seemingly melting her. A talking Chistery leads Glinda to the green elixir bottle that Elphaba showed her while they were attending Shiz.
Glinda confronts the Wizard with the bottle, revealing that he is Elphaba's birth father and the reason why she had such powerful potential. Distraught at being the cause of his daughter's death, he is forced by Glinda to leave Oz via hot-air balloon. Glinda becomes Oz's new leader and allows the monkeys to apprehend Morrible for her crimes. She finishes telling the story to the Munchkins and establishes the rights of Animals, as Elphaba would have wanted. The Grimmerie activates for Glinda. Meanwhile, Fiyero, who turned into a scarecrow due to Elphaba's spell, arrives at the scene where Elphaba melted, knocking on the floor. Elphaba emerges, having faked her death to ensure that no one in Oz ever sees her again. The two leave Oz together.
Cast
Bailey, Erivo, and Grande (L-R) reprise their roles as Fiyero, Elphaba and Glinda.
Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero Tigelaar, a Winkie prince who is now Captain of the Wizard's Guard. He is later transformed into the Scarecrow by Elphaba[11]
Additionally, Keala Settle, Adam James and Alice Fearn reprise their roles from the first film as Miss Coddle and Glinda's parents, respectively. Kerry Ellis, one of the actresses who played Elphaba on stage in both the Broadway and the West End productions of the musical, will appear in an undisclosed cameo role.[20] Bethany Weaver portrays Dorothy Gale, a Kansas farm girl transported to the Land of Oz with her dog, Toto.[21] Though the character is given a more prominent role compared to the original second act of the musical, her face is not directly seen in the film.[22][23]
A film adaptation of the Broadway musical Wicked was announced in 2012,[24] with scheduled release dates of December 20, 2019, December 22, 2021, December 25, 2024, and November 27, 2024.[25] After numerous delays, the film eventually secured a release date of November 22, 2024.[26] In April 2022, director Jon M. Chu announced that the adaptation would be split in two parts, saying:
As we prepared the production over the last year, it became impossible to wrestle the story of 'Wicked' into a single film without doing some real damage to it ... As we tried to cut songs or trim characters, those decisions began to feel like fatal compromises to the source material that has entertained us all for so many years. We decided to give ourselves a bigger canvas and make not just one 'Wicked' movie but two! With more space, we can tell the story of 'Wicked' as it was meant to be told while bringing even more depth and surprise to the journeys for these beloved characters.[27]
Stephen Schwartz echoed Chu's sentiment in June, while also confirming that a new song was in the works for one of the two films:[28]
We found it very difficult to get past 'Defying Gravity' without a break ... That song is written specifically to bring a curtain down, and whatever scene to follow it without a break just seemed hugely anti-climactic ... Even as a very long single movie, it required us cutting or omitting things that we wanted to include and that we think fans of the show and the story will appreciate. What we have discussed is that changes need to be 'additive,' to use (producer) Marc Platt's term. They need to add something to the story or the characters. They can't just be changes to do something different. I feel confident that by the time the movie is made, if we all continue to have the same degree of input, I could have a conversation with anyone who has a question about any of the changes made from the stage show and justify why I think it's better for the movie.
In November 2022, Schwartz revealed that the film will include two new songs "to meet the demands of the storytelling."[29] In December 2024, Chu revealed that the film will have a much darker tone compared to the first film, and that the character of Dorothy Gale will have a more prominent role compared to the musical's second act.[22][23]
Filming
Principal photography began alongside Wicked on December 9, 2022, and had nearly been completed by July 2023 before production was suspended due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.[30] Both films resumed production on January 24, 2024, and concluded filming on January 26.[31] The song vocals were recorded live on set at the insistence of Erivo and Grande, with Academy Award-winning production sound mixer Simon Hayes collaborating with Chu on the recordings of the actors' vocals, using a variation of the same recording techniques that were implemented on Les Misérables.[32][31][33][34]
Chu cited Steven Spielberg's 1991 film Hook as inspiration for the use of large-scale sets and practical effects, including nine million colorful tulips planted on location to surround the Munchkinland set and an actual Yellow Brick Road paved on the ground with real mud.[35][36] Many sets from the first film were repurposed for the second film, such as the life-sized train to Emerald City doubling as Glinda's personal locomotive, and the Governor's Mansion in Munchkinland constructed with elements from the Shiz University library and Madame Morrible's office.[37] Chu also cited the 1998 films Pleasantville and The Truman Show as influences on how both films thematically portray the Land of Oz, saying "It helps create this idea of the rebelliousness that this new younger generation are discovering... How far will that take everybody in Oz throughout the course of the whole story of both movies? It's an awakening of a generation. You start to see the truth about things that maybe you were taught differently."[38]
Post-production and visual effects
On February 6, 2024, it was confirmed that Industrial Light & Magic and Framestore[39] provided the visual effects with Pablo Helman serving as visual effects supervisor, and that post-production work was in progress, with Chu working remotely with editor Myron Kerstein via communication through the newly released Apple Vision Pro.[40][41][42] Editing on the film was paused during most of 2024 in order for Chu to finish post-production on the first film so he could understand how the sequel would continue the story. Post-production resumed in November 2024, immediately following the press tour and release of the first film, with editing done through Avid Media Composer.[43] On October 3, 2025, Chu confirmed on Instagram that post-production had been completed.[citation needed]
On December 16, 2024, the film's official title was unveiled as Wicked: For Good, sharing its subtitle with the name of the musical's penultimate song.[4] Chu defended the title as always having been the right choice over the film's working title, Wicked: Part Two,[44] though the latter was ultimately retained on certain international releases.[45][46]
John Powell (pictured in 2008), co-composed the film's incidental underscore with Stephen Schwartz.
The soundtrack album for Wicked: For Good will be released by Republic Records/Verve Label Group, Grande and Erivo's respective record labels, on November 21, 2025.[47] It became available for pre-saving on June 5, 2025.[48]
In July 2024, it was announced that John Powell had composed the incidental underscore for both films in the adaptation.[49]Jeff Atmajian updated William David Brohn's original orchestrations for the songs and enlarged the orchestra from the stage version's original 23 musicians to 125 for the film. The musical's original music director Stephen Oremus conducted the song cues. Greg Wells, Oremus and Schwartz serve as music producers.[49][50][51][52]
In January 2025, Wells revealed he was in the process of recording live instrumentals, with recording scheduled to happen in May or June 2025 with the orchestra at AIR Studios, followed by mixing over the subsequent months.[53] Later that month, a home studio belonging to Wells was destroyed in the 2025 Palisades Fire, halting production.[54] The score album will be released on December 5, 2025, and became available for pre-saving on November 17.[55][56]
Main musical numbers
"Every Day More Wicked" – Ensemble
"Thank Goodness/I Couldn't Be Happier" – Glinda, Madame Morrible, Fiyero and Citizens of Oz
"No Place Like Home" – Elphaba
"The Wicked Witch of the East" – Elphaba, Nessarose and Boq
"A Wicked Good Finale" – Glinda, Elphaba and Ozians
"No Place Like Home" and "The Girl in the Bubble" are new songs written specifically for the film, with the former written in collaboration with Erivo.[57][58] "A Wicked Good Finale", adapted from the original "Finale" track from the stage musical, will be included on the score album as opposed to the soundtrack album.[55][56] "Every Day More Wicked" is expanded from a line in the first song of the musical's second act, and also interpolates several songs from the first act, such as "The Wizard and I" and "Popular", but with different lyrics.[citation needed]
Changes from stage musical
Splitting the film adaptation into two parts allowed the filmmakers to expand upon the relationships between the characters, particularly Elphaba and Glinda, so that movie audiences may understand them better.[59] The sexual content of the musical and the novel were also toned down, so that both films could reach wider audiences and attain PG ratings from the Motion Picture Association.[60]Marissa Bode, who portrays Nessarose and uses a wheelchair in real life, revealed that her character's storyline was revised to prevent implications of ableism,[13] most notably by having Nessarose gain the ability to fly instead of walking upright after her shoes are enchanted by Elphaba.[61]Bowen Yang, who portrays Pfannee, revealed that his character (who previously was not in the second act of the stage musical, nor portrayed as male) will get his "just desserts [sic]" for his actions.[62]
Additionally, the following changes were made:
The first scene of the movie consists of Animals being forced to build the Yellow Brick Road.
In the "No Place Like Home" scene, Elphaba finds Dulcibear and the other Animals and tries to rally them to her cause. At first it looks like they will ally with her, but they flee when they find out she was the one who gave the monkeys wings. She sings about how she wants to protect the people of Oz despite rejection from others.[63][64]
Prior to the Wicked Witch of the East scene, Boq is seen trying to leave Munchkinland with other Munchkins. They are stopped by a decree by Nessarose, who had insisted it be put into effect immediately.
There are extra verses at the start of "Wonderful".
There is a scene showing Elphaba freeing the Animals from their cages. It is intertwined with the wedding between Glinda and Fiyero; the Animals crash the wedding as they escape from their cages. The stage musical largely ignores the aspect of the Animals' rights after "Wonderful"; the film keeps it in focus.[65]
"March of the Witch Hunters" is broken into two sections, with "Girl in the Bubble" in between. In this song, she sings about how hard the choices ahead of her are.[63]
After "For Good", Glinda is seen letting the Animals back into Ozian society in a continuation of her speech at the beginning of the first film. She says she will try and change things for the better. The Animals who were employed get their jobs and voices back.[65]
The Grimmerie opens for Glinda at the end, before a shot of her and Elphaba recreating the iconic pose from the Broadway poster. This is the final shot before the end credits.[65]
Release
Wicked: For Good premiered in São Paulo, Brazil at the Suhai Music Hall on November 4, 2025, with subsequent premieres in Paris at Le Grand Rex on November 7,[66] London at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on November 10,[67] Singapore at Universal Studios Singapore on November 13,[68][69] and New York City at the Metropolitan Opera on November 17.[6] The film will be released theatrically by Universal Pictures in the United States on November 21, 2025, with engagements in RealD 3D, IMAX, Dolby Cinema, 4DX, ScreenX and D-Box.[70] It was previously scheduled for release on November 26, 2025, and December 25, 2025, before being moved up to avoid competition with Zootopia 2 and Avatar: Fire and Ash, respectively.[71] Advanced screenings of the film will take place on November 17, 2025, for Amazon Prime subscribers, and on November 20 for the general public.[72] A one-time double feature of Wicked and Wicked: For Good will also be released in select theaters on the latter date.[73]
Wicked: For Good was screened privately at the DGA Theater in Manhattan on October 27, 2025, with Grande, Chu, Platt, Schwartz, and members of the current Broadway cast in attendance.[74] Two private screenings took place in London on November 9, ahead of the British premiere; one for members of the musical's West End production, and another for BAFTA voters that was followed by a discussion with members of the film crew, including cinematographer Alice Brooks and production designer Nathan Crowley.[citation needed]
Marketing
Work-in-process footage from both films in the adaptation, including first listens to Grande and Erivo's renditions of "Popular" and "Defying Gravity", was presented at CinemaCon on April 26, 2023, introduced on stage by Universal Pictures chairwoman Donna Langley.[75] The first film's 60-second "First Look", which premiered during Super Bowl LVIII on February 11, 2024, revealed brief clips of scenes from the second film that expand the plot of the musical's second act, including one of Glinda's wedding and another of the Wizard sending Dorothy and her traveling party to hunt Elphaba down.[76][77] In February 2025, Chu revealed that the first official Wicked: For Good trailer would premiere sometime during the spring or early summer, after declining to have it air during Super Bowl LIX due to technical difficulties with the visual effects.[78]
The two-minute theatrical trailer made its debut at CinemaCon on April 2, introduced on stage by Erivo, Grande, Chu and Platt.[79][80] It was eventually released to the public on June 4, 2025, through a one-night limited theatrical re-release of Wicked, before premiering online afterwards.[81] Simultaneously, the Shiz University website introduced in the first film's promotional campaign was updated, replacing links to the college's locations with an audio recording of Madame Morrible's propaganda speech against Elphaba, and a ticker tape urging visitors to report any "suspicious witch activity" to Morrible and the Wizard. Dr. Dillamond's classroom page was also updated to replace the lecture of Oz's history on the chalkboard with the phrase "Animals should be seen and not heard", a reference to the character's fate in the first film.[82]
On June 9, Universal reported that the For Good trailer received 113 million views in its first 24 hours, surpassing the 75 million views made in the same time-frame by the first film's trailer.[83] That same day, an episode of Lego Masters with challenges themed to Wicked aired on Fox in the United States as part of the series' fifth season.[84][85] On August 6, a "First Look" featurette was released, containing behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with Chu, Erivo, and Grande on the evolution between the two Wicked films.[86] A final theatrical trailer was released on September 24, 2025.[87]
For the sixth week of its thirty-fourth season, Dancing with the Stars held a "Wicked Night" where couples danced to songs from Wicked and Wicked: For Good. Chu appeared as a guest judge, while Erivo, Grande, Jonathan Bailey, and Michelle Yeoh appeared in video greetings to the audience. The episode aired on October 21, 2025, and included a never-before-seen clip of the "Wonderful" musical number.[88] A musical television special, Wicked: One Wonderful Night, aired on NBC on November 6, featuring the cast and special guests performing songs from Wicked and Wicked: For Good live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.[89][90]
Universal's global promotional efforts for Wicked: For Good were scaled back considerably from the first film, with only a $90 million budget compared to the previous $150 million budget.[91]
Reception
Box office
Tickets for Wicked: For Good went on sale on October 8, 2025. The following day, Fandango announced that the film became the site's best first-day ticket pre-seller of 2025, surpassing Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle, Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl, and Superman. It additionally became the biggest PG-rated first-day ticket pre-seller of all time, ahead of Frozen 2, the 2019 remake of The Lion King, and the sing-along version of KPop Demon Hunters, and entered the top 10 best first-day ticket pre-sellers of all time on Fandango. Jerramy Hainline, EVP of Fandango Ticketing, said: "With last year's Wicked breaking records and captivating audiences around the world, it is no surprise that fans are racing to get their tickets to Wicked: For Good ... The first film became a true cultural phenomenon bringing new generations into the world of Wicked, and it's clear that fans can't wait to see how the story continues on the big screen."[92]Deadline Hollywood projected the film to gross $112–115 million in its domestic opening weekend, on par with the $112.5 million opening gross of the first film.[93]
Early reactions to Wicked: For Good deemed the film superior to the first film and the second act of the stage musical, with Chu's direction and the performances of Erivo and Grande lauded.[96] Destiny Jackson of Deadline Hollywood praised the film as an "epic and heartbreakingly tender conclusion to one of the most dynamic friendships in pop culture history",[97] while Vanity Fair writer Chris Murphy highlighted the "exciting and innovative" additions to the plot, as well as the "jaw-dropping" performances of Erivo and Grande.[98]
In November 2024, Schwartz and Holzman stated they had discussed the possibility of "something" more associated with the Wicked film adaptation, but that it would not necessarily be a Wicked Part Three or Four.[106] Since the first film's release, the adaptation overall is in the process of evolving into a media franchise, with theme park attractions based on the films currently in the works at Universal Destinations & Experiences.[107]
↑ Holzman is credited twice for writing the screenplay; first as a solo writer and as part of a writing team with Dana Fox.
1 2 3 Per her own request, Grande is credited on-screen with her full name, Ariana Grande-Butera.[5]
↑ The film was originally announced as Wicked: Part Two before being retitled in December 2024, but the previous name is still used in some regions, sometimes stylized as Wicked: Part II.[4]
↑ Glinda's full identity is given as "Glinda the Good Witch of the North" in the script of the first film. It is not mentioned by that title in the film's dialogue and credits.[7]
↑ Frei, Vincent (February 12, 2024). "Wicked Part One". The Art of VFX (in French). Archived from the original on February 14, 2024. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
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