After years of being in the works, a live-action adaptation of Wicked is finally on the way. The take on the beloved stage musical has been a buzzed-about possibility for years, prompting countless fancasts for its ensemble cast of roles. When it came time to audition for the ultimate Wicked movie, it sounds like two major names were briefly in consideration. During a recent appearance on the Armchair Expert podcast, Nick and Joe Jonas revealed that they both auditioned for the Wicked movie, but did not get the part. While they do not confirm which character they were up for, it’s safe to assume it could have been Fiyero, who is ultimately being played by Bridgerton‘s Jonathan Bailey.
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“We both auditioned for the same role, Joe and I,” Nick revealed. “It was for Wicked, actually. And we were going into it… and naturally, we’re brothers, we’re competitive in sports and other things, but when it comes to our career, I think we genuinely both looked at each other like…”
“Yeah, we said, ‘Go in there and kill it ’cause it’s gotta be one of us. It has to be one of us,’” Joe echoed. “That being said, never got that call…”
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 Ariana Grande as Galinda, 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.
When will the Wicked movie premiere?
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.”
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