“Wicked” with Ariana Grande
Trailer premieres at the Super Bowl
Cynthia Erivo (l.) and Ariana Grande on a poster for “Wicked”.
© Universal Pictures
Premiere at the Super Bowl: The first teaser for the musical film adaptation “Wicked” with Ariana Grande is here.
The first moving images for “Wicked” are here! Universal Pictures has it The first teaser for the musical film adaptation was shown during the halftime break of the Super Bowl on Sunday. Cynthia Erivo (37) and Ariana Grande (30) play and sing the main roles in the prequel to the fantasy classic “The Wizard of Oz” (1939).
Like the Broadway original, “Wicked” tells the origin story of the Wicked Witch of the West – the main villain in “The Wizard of Oz”. In the trailer, the future witch (Cynthia Erivo) arrives at Shiz University – then known as Elphaba. There she scares the other students because of her green skin color. Only then does Elphaba realize that she is different from the others.
At school, the outsider befriends Glinda (Ariana Grande), who later became the Good Witch of the South in the Oz universe. Elphala discovers her magical powers. “Something is taking over me,” she says. “And then bad things happen.” A window breaks spectacularly.
Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard of Oz – and “Harry Potter” vibes
In addition to Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, the teaser also provides a first look at Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh (61) as the rector of Shiz University and Jeff Goldblum (71) as the Wizard of Oz. Fans see Dorothy, the heroine from the classic film, like the scarecrow, the lion and the tin man only from behind.
A wizard’s hat and a train ride to a magician’s school are reminiscent of Harry Potter at the beginning of the teaser. Except that the lavish furnishings are much more colorful than those of the British magic student.
“Wicked” is scheduled to hit German cinemas on November 28, 2024. But this only starts the first part of the film adaptation of the hit musical. Part two will follow in December 2025.
“Wicked” has been running successfully on Broadway since 2003 and the production won three Tony Awards. German versions of the musical, based on a novel by Gregory Maguire, were staged in Stuttgart, Oberhausen and Hamburg.