Megan Lander | Student Life Editor
December 5, 2025
Before Thanksgiving break on November 21st, Wicked: For Good introduced itself to the theaters. The year-long intermission after the first part of Wicked mimicked the fifteen minute intermission during the live Broadway performance, causing the audience to eagerly anticipate the story’s conclusion.
Directed by Jon M. Chu, known for his stunning visual work in other musicals and his hit film, Crazy Rich Asians, Chu had a vision he felt would expand the Land of Oz in ways that the stage couldn’t capture. In a recent interview, Chu mentioned how Wicked was one of the most challenging and rewarding projects he’s ever worked on. He described how he had to bring a live performance story and a classic 1939 film to life, which required Chu to push himself to be more creative while also preserving the original aspects of the story. Future film major and SCHS senior, Schae Parrish, said that “one of the most difficult things to do as a director is to re-make a film that people already know the story of because if you change or mess up on one little detail, the backlash could be detrimental to your career.”
Starring Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda, the last two years of their journey has been not one, but two emotional roller coasts promoting the first and second half of the film through global press tours. Featuring other cast members like Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero and Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, fans have been praising these casting choices due to their beautiful embodiment of the characters, their fun and impressive vocals in the musical’s songs, and amazing dancing skills.
The message the cast’s press appearances around the world share to the people is that Wicked represents how people are more than just labels that others give to them. This is one of the reasons the fandom is huge; it helps people become the true versions of themselves like the characters do throughout the movie. At one of the press tours in Singapore, a fan hopped the barricade and sprinted up to Ariana Grande for a hug. Cynthia Erivo was her main protector and eventually security escorted him off the walkway. After that, the cast did not say another word to the crowd and respectfully left the event. Even though fans who were there were extremely upset, they were also stunned at the actions of the man, who was later known to have rushed up to several celebrities, because who knows what he could have done to them instead. Senior Marie Root said “some fans are so crazy sometimes. Celebrities are also just people, let them be.”
Meanwhile in the rest of the world, Wicked fans are buzzing with new predictions and theories about the film. One of the most asked questions was who was going to be the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Lion, and Dorothy. While we eventually figure out who the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion were, like in the 1937 Wizard of Oz, Dorothy’s identity has yet to have been revealed in the new film. Her face is not shown in Wicked: For Good so that way, the audience continues to associate the girl in the blue and white checked gingham dress and curly brown pig tails as the original actor of Dorothy, Judy Garland.
The statistics for this new film include earnings of $226 million on Opening Weekend and over $407 million at the Global Box Office. The film’s success will hopefully get nominated for a handful of Oscar nominations due to the quality of production, actors, and even costumes. Last year, Wicked Act 1 got 10 Oscar nominations. Fans would be ecstatic to see the carefully crafted, reinvented Land of Oz win awards this time round.
As Oz continues to grow, there are so many surprises ahead and audiences waiting eagerly to see what the future of the Wicked-verse holds.
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