With the first Wicked: For Good trailer released online, the forthcoming movie is aiming to be as popular as the first one.
Universal Pictures shared the trailer for director Jon M. Chu‘s feature that hits theaters Nov. 21 and stars Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba. The actresses graced the CinemaCon stage in April for the studio’s presentation to exhibitors, where the Wicked: For Good footage was initially screened.
Wicked: For Good centers on the two witches facing the consequences of their previous decisions and its impact on their friendship. The footage teases the first look at Dorothy, albeit without revealing her face, and also includes the yellow brick road, a wedding and no shortage of flying monkeys.
“Elphaba, they’re coming for you,” Glinda warns near the end of the trailer.
Rounding out the cast are Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum. Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox penned the script for the project that counts Marc Platt and David Stone as producers.
The two-part feature adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway smash had been long in the works after the stage version debuted in 2003. The first Wicked film hit theaters last November and soared to nearly $750 million at the global box office, making it the top-grossing Broadway adaptation ever.
Loosely based on author Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, the stage musical Wicked tells the story of The Wizard of Oz’s characters before Dorothy’s arrival. It remains a Broadway sensation, with ticket sales surging following the success of the first movie. Last year’s film collected two Oscar wins from 10 nominations.
Platt, the prolific producer behind both the stage and film versions, explained during a PGA event earlier this year that he was initially hesitant to split the screen adaptation into two separate features.
“I remember going to the movies as a kid and watching musicals or Lawrence of Arabia that had intermissions in it, and that was actually my dream for Wicked, that we could do it with intermission,” Platt said at the time. “That was one battle I lost.”
