Wicked's Ariana Grande Shares Goodbye Photo From Set as Movie Wraps Filming

Universal's long-awaited movie adaptation of Wicked is finally on the way, with the two-part live-action adaptation scheduled to arrive in the coming years. The ensemble cast of Wicked is made up of a number of notable and surprising names, including Ariana Grande as Galinda, who becomes Glinda the Good Witch in the story of The Wizard of Oz. In a recent post on her Instagram Stories, Grande spoke about Wicked having recently wrapped production, showing a behind-the-scenes look at some of the technical work that went into the film.

"This was a wildly large production with so many brilliant human beings who worked so, so hard in every department," she wrote. "Every single person that worked on these films was not only the absolute best at what they do but made every single day for over a year feel so incredibly safe … kind and thoughtful and inspired every day as if it were always the first... How something so much bigger than all of us could feel so intimate and small and warm is beyond me but it starts from the top. You made it so [Jon M. Chu]. I have so many stories that I can't wait to share but for now, my heart sincerely, physically aches that I will not be sharing ever yday with this crew anymore. Thank you for your brilliance and the many hand \holds and hugs along the way."

What Is Wicked About?

Wicked is a prequel to the iconic events of The Wizard of Oz, and tells the story of two unlikely friends, Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) and Galinda (whose name later changes to Glinda the Good Witch), who struggle through opposing personalities and viewpoints, rivalry over the same love-interest, reactions to the Wizard's corrupt government, and, ultimately, Elphaba's public fall from grace. The cast will also include Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Ethan Slater as Boq, Jeff Goldblum as The Wizard, Bowen Yang and Bronwyn James as Pfannee and ShenShen, Marissa Bode as Elphaba's sister Nessarose, Keala Settle as Miss Coddle, Aaron Teoh as Avaric and Colin Michael Carmichael as Professor Nikidik.

The musical, which first debuted on Broadway in 2003, has become a beloved part of musical theater, ultimately grossing over $1 billion in total Broadway revenue in 2016. The original production of Wicked featured Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, both of whom had been among the wishlist fans have had for the movie adaptation.

Why Is Wicked Two Movies?

Wicked will be split into a two-part movie saga, the first of which will arrive in December of 2024, and the second of which will arrive in December of 2025.

"Here's what happened: 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," Chu wrote in a statement when the decision to split it into two films was announced. "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."

Are you excited for the Wicked movie? What do you think of Ariana Grande's new behind-the-scenes photo? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!