“Wicked,” a timeless and iconic Broadway show, was adapted into a screenplay that was released on Nov. 21, 2024, starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo. The movie is being released in two parts, with the second part coming out on Nov. 21, 2025.

Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel “Wicked” first premiered as a Broadway show in 2003 starring Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel. Chenoweth portrayed Glinda Upland, a high spirited, very popular young woman, and Menzel portrayed Elphaba Thropp, a green student at Shiz University who finds herself overcoming adversity due to the color of her skin.

“Wicked” is a story that conveys the strong meaning of friendship, sending the message that people must stay true to themselves and embrace their differences. The movie takes its audience through an inspiring journey alongside Glinda and Elphaba.

In 2021, Grande and Erivo were cast to play the roles of Glinda and Elphaba. According to the actresses, the process of filming “Wicked” together helped create an incredible bond between the two. Their friendship is particularly poignant given the film’s message.

“Both of us made the decision and have had the discussion about really being good to each other, being honest with each other and choosing to build our friendship,” Erivo said in a Deadline interview.

Throughout “Wicked,” the character development of Glinda and Elphaba was captured superbly. Grande really embodied Glinda’s personality change, as the character went from being biased toward Elphaba to securing a beautiful friendship with her. Their friendship was instigated when Glinda finally felt empathy for her.

The Oz Dust is a ball hosted for Shiz University students. There was a scene at the Oz Dust, in which everyone laughed at Elphaba for wearing her witch hat and Glinda came in and mocked her dance. This scene was the perfect example of the empowering emotion distributed throughout the film. This was a moment in which nothing and no one other than Glinda and Elphaba mattered. Not the people laughing, not the people staring, just them as they shared a moment of powerful silence. This is the moment they formed a true connection.

“Defying Gravity” gave viewers a deeper glimpse into how special friendship is. The song managed to convey love and sadness at once and contained symbolism that was not too overpowering nor under expectation. It was through this song that Glinda showed how conflicted she was on whether or not to leave Oz with Elphaba.

Since, at its core, the movie shared the story of two young friends that leave each other due to controversy, the movie was moving and deeply emotional. Elphaba wanted Glinda to come with her to leave Oz, as everyone treated her like their scapegoat and made her out to be a vile person. Glinda refused for her own benefit; she wanted to maintain her image as a well-liked individual, seeing as she feared being hated.

Whether or not Glinda chooses to join her though, Elphaba is committed to leaving Oz. The character’s intentions are perfectly reflected in Erivo’s song “The Wizard and I.” Throughout the song, Elphaba expresses her goal of meeting the wizard and her determination to prove everyone wrong with her wit and unique abilities.

Erivo, like Grande, also managed to capture her character’s development. Over the duration of “Wicked” Elphaba went from being vulnerable, to being a strong and independent woman who nobody could pull down. The character had completely transformed.

Additionally, the vibrant and detailed aesthetic of the film’s cinematography really brought the story to life. The breathtaking colorful fields of flowers depicted in the film showed the beauty that went into its making. The benefit of making a stage performance in a film is that it creates an even more immersive world and experience for viewers to watch, and that was exactly the case for “Wicked.”

Both Erivo and Grande’s acting performances were outstanding, and they portrayed their respective “Wicked” characters beautifully. Their voices harmonized together, becoming in sync when they sang “Defying Gravity” and “What is this feeling?” Grande even hit an E6 with vibrato during the song “No one Mourns the Wicked,” which was impressive. It was truly incredible to see Grande master this note, and way beyond incredible to see her use it so expertly.

Although “Wicked” was absolutely extraordinary, it was very long. The first part has a two hour and 40 minutes run time. The second part may even be as long as the first one. This makes for an excessively long film; if both movies were put together it would be at least five hours long. There were also a lot of unnecessary pauses and stops in the film that ultimately contributed to its unnecessary length.

“Wicked” was a masterpiece when it was performed on Broadway and remains a masterpiece today. Grande and Erivo truly uplifted the legacy of the movie by their portrayal of such an inspiring story. Part one was particularly phenomenal due to the new dynamic it provided Glinda and Elphaba; the characters had a bond unlike that which can be seen in any other interpretation of “Wicked.”