For the film adaptation of Wicked, musical comrades-in-arms Winnie Holzman, writer of the book for the musical, and Oscar-winning composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz were elated to take the journey back to Oz. “It was an incredible opportunity for Stephen and I to revisit this world. Coming back into it, we realized that there were aspects of the story that we wanted to explore more deeply, and with more nuance,” says Holzman. “We are telling the same story, while allowing it to blossom into something new.”
In 1995, almost a century after L. Frank Baum’s enduring classic, The Wizard of Oz, first hit bookshelves in the year 1900, novelist Gregory Maguire reinvented Baum’s world in his bestseller Wicked. The novel, about the untold stories of the witches of Oz, set in the years before Dorothy dropped in, became a literary sensation. A few years later, in 2003, Wicked made its debut on Broadway as a dazzling musical event, and became a generation-defining cultural phenomenon of its own.
Like L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz itself, Wicked has entered our collective consciousness and has shaped our dreams and our perceptions of the world and each other. It is a story that pierces the perceptions and sharpens the resolve of every generation, including our own.
On the surface, Wicked is the origin story of how Elphaba became the Wicked Witch of the West and Galinda Upland become Glinda the Good. It’s a story of an unlikely friendship between two young women—one ostracized, one adored — and how the untapped power of one will reshape their lives and Oz, forever.

For years, producer Marc Platt had been approached about adapting the stage musical for the screen. The timing had never seemed right, but when the stars aligned, Platt knew it was time to let Elphaba and Glinda soar. The film, Platt says, allows them to expand and explore the Wicked universe in a way that isn’t possible on stage. “What’s exciting about bringing Wicked to film is that in the making of the stage show there were many ideas, themes and stories we had to cut,” Platt says. “With only so much time, we had to leave it in your mind or shortcut the story.”
The stage can show you a world but it can’t immerse you in one the way film can. “Making films allows us to elaborate on the themes of the stage production,” Platt says. “Film allows us to investigate the different worlds—Munchkinland, Shiz University, the dormitories and classrooms. The dwellings where the Animals live, the wonderous Emerald City and Wizard’s throne room. When we decided to make Wicked as a film, we wanted to be able to dramatize many of the elements that on stage you can’t—from flying with monkeys to sweeping across Oz. These are places that only a camera can go. The films take advantage of this, opening the door to create a singular experience.”
The film of Wicked brings Oz alive in a grand, detailed, magical way. Making Wicked as two films allowed the creative team to give audiences everything they’re hoping to see and hear and feel, and more. “We created this story over two films,” Platt says. “The first tells how Elphaba becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, and the second tells how her best friend, Glinda, becomes authentically good.”
Above all, the filmmakers wanted to give fans of the stage production everything they dream of experiencing in a film. No songs or characters were cut. No scenes deleted. The vision deepened and expanded the world. “Our job is to bring the essence of what’s in the theater that is so satisfying and take audiences beyond that,” Platt says. “To take the familiar but introduce them to something that goes where they couldn’t imagine. Audiences will be transported to an epic world—where monkeys fly, witches take off on brooms…and magic is possible.”

In Wicked the untold story of the witches of Oz, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) is a young woman misunderstood because of her unusual green skin who has yet to discover her true power. Glinda (Ariana Grande), a popular young woman gilded by privilege and ambition, has yet to discover her true heart. The two meet as students at Shiz University in the fantastical land of Oz and forge an unlikely but profound friendship. Following an encounter with The Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads and their lives take very different paths. Their extraordinary adventures in Oz will ultimately see them fulfil their destinies as Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.

From Stage To Big Screen
“For years, Winnie and I would say, ‘For the movie, we should do this…’,” Schwartz says. “It’s been exciting us for a long time. The story of Wicked—as brilliantly imagined by Gregory Maguire and then as realized by Winnie and myself and our show collaborators—has spoken to people who have made it their own. Each of our characters is keeping a secret from the world—sometimes even a secret from themselves. That’s what the show is about: revealing what’s under the surface.”
Schwartz and Holzman know each other so well, and have worked together for so long, that they can literally finish each other’s sentences. “Winnie and I tell the story together,” Schwartz says. “Some of it through dialogue, which is Winnie’s department, and some through song, which is mine. When I was struggling with the first song for the roommates, Winnie came up with the idea of ‘What if, instead of doing a love-at-first-sight song, we do a hate-at-first-sight one? In the same way that two people meet and fall in love, there’s something about finding the person you hate immediately that feels as good.”
It was through their work adapting the novel for the stage that Holzman and Schwartz discovered that the focus needed to be the friendship between Elphaba and Glinda. “As we explored this complex, intense friendship, we found it was the heart of the show,” Holzman says. “It’s the idea that you meet someone, and that person changes the course of your life. And it’s also about two young women realizing that they want to make a positive impact in their world… and where that realization leads them.”
Little could producer Marc Platt know, but the filmmaker he would ultimately hire to direct the film of Wicked, Jon M. Chu, was a longtime superfan of the stage production.
When Chu was in discussions with the filmmakers about coming aboard Wicked as its director, he told Platt, Holzman and Schwartz that he would be the steward for a world that they created. Chu thought back to what he had experienced with Wicked two decades earlier in the Curran Theater, when he, Platt, Schwartz, Holzman and Stone had all been there at the same time. “They had all been at the Curran for this new show,” Chu says. “Everyone I knew was whispering about it. Even 20 years ago, it felt relevant. What spoke to me in the show was when Dr. Dillamond says, ‘you’re not being told the whole story.’ The power of how hard change is and how complicated people are. It’s prophetic what Stephen and Winnie wrote.”

Chu’s ambition is for audiences to see Wicked through a new lens. “I want people who saw it on the stage to experience it in a way they never have,” Chu says. For the filmmakers, it was crucial to populate Wicked with a panoply of distinctive artists, both behind and in front of the camera. “We worked a long time to find the perfect cast,” Chu says. “We knew we needed people who could sing and act and who were a little Ozian. There’s a little oddity, a bit of left-of-center to these storytellers. That’s why I liked getting all these misfits together to make a movie about misfits.”
At the heart of Wicked is the unexpected friendship between two young women, Glinda and Elphaba, and both the stage musical and the film rises or falls on that relationship and the performances of those two actors. Casting the right artists for the roles was critical to the success of the film. Director Jon M. Chu and his fellow filmmakers knew almost instantly that they had made the right decision in casting Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.

Taking on the production design of Wicked was an endeavor six-time Oscar®-nominated production designer Nathan Crowley approached with a profound sense of responsibility and creativity. Known for his ability to create immersive, visually stunning productions including The Dark Knight trilogy, Interstellar and Dunkirk, among many others, Crowley recognized that Wicked required more than he’d ever put forth for a film before.
Crowley and his teams’ work on Wicked is a testament to his unparalleled ability to create a visual spectacle that honors the beloved Broadway production while offering a fresh and breathtakingly new experience. “Nathan’s guidance emboldened our entire team to remain true to our vision,” director Jon M. Chu says. “We knew we had to build Emerald City, Munchkinland, and every intricate detail in between and Nathan and his team meticulously crafted distinct cultures within Oz, making the sets feel tangible and authentic. It’s an immersive experience audiences will feel, not just understand—a testament to our team’s shared dedication to storytelling.”

When director Jon M. Chu approached Academy Award®-nominated costume designer Paul Tazewell to collaborate on Wicked, the timing seemed serendipitous. Fresh off his work on Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, Tazewell was eager to join forces with Chu. They also shared a taste in great material. Tazewell had worked on the Broadway production of In the Heights. Chu had directed the 2021 film adaptation.
Tazewell was thrilled to revisit the world of Oz, a world deeply embedded in his professional and personal history. Having designed five productions of The Wiz, including NBC’s The Wiz Live!, Tazewell was no stranger to the world of Oz. “With this background, I felt empowered to dive into this world that was reflective of many elements of my creative brain,” Tazewell says. “Using costumes to tell stories and create characters is what truly excites me.”
Approaching Wicked required a delicate balance of honoring its storied history while injecting a fresh, contemporary vision. Tazewell acknowledges the audience’s preconceived notions of Oz and Wicked, given the musical’s extensive Broadway run. “I needed to respect that established universe while capturing the same spirit of Wicked with a fresh vision,” Tazewell says. “I aimed to bring my own design language and voice to Wicked, separate from the Broadway musical’s world. Working with Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda, their interpretations were bound to be fresh and exciting, and embracing their portrayals, along with Jon M. Chu’s overarching vision, allowed my team and I to organically create a new and compelling world.”

The world of Wicked mirrors modern culture by embracing diversity and inclusivity. Drawing inspiration from contemporary fashion and street style, the designers infused the costumes with elements of self-expression and individuality, resulting in a fresh, exploratory world. Each region within Oz is distinct yet interconnected, symbolizing common human experiences, much like cultures worldwide. This attention to detail contributes to the richly textured world of Oz.
Cinematographer Alice Brooks, known for her camera work on director Jon M. Chu’s In the Heights and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s tick, tick… BOOM!, brings a nuanced perspective to the cinematography of Wicked. Through her work, she aims to craft compelling visual narratives and evoke deep emotional resonance, which made her the ideal choice for the job.
Brooks’ keen eye for detail and mastery of light were instrumental in shaping the film’s visual identity. “Jon and I had extensive early discussions that shaped our approach to Wicked,” Brooks says. “We discussed various themes—from visual motifs to the language of Oz and the dynamics of friendship and love. These discussions formed the foundation of our creative process and outlined a visual roadmap for the film. My personal goal for Wicked was to craft the greatest, most beautiful love story ever told between these two women. Every decision—whether in lighting or camera work—was driven by our shared vision of capturing the profound emotions of finding your best friend and then the heartache of being pulled apart.”

Three-time Oscar®-nominated visual effects supervisor (PABLO HELMAN, The Irishman)—who has been with Industrial Light & Magic for almost 30 years—actually first worked with Wicked Wizard Jeff Goldblum on Independence Day. For Wicked, Helman was responsible for more than 2,200 visual effects for this first Wicked film. “We touched every shot in the movie—either by doing an extension, putting creatures in it, or adding effects from tornadoes, water or fire,” Helman says. More than 1,000 VFX artists worked on the key shots during postproduction. The team was also responsible for creating the hundreds of Animal characters. “In VFX, we developed the winged-blue-monkey transformation sequence, in which over 5,100 feathers per monkey had to be groomed.” Helman says. The monkeys were animated using a proprietary Face Select toolset, allowing for intricate facial expressions.
- For the iconic “Defying Gravity” sequence of Elphaba flying on her broom, Helman and his team collaborated closely with director Jon M. Chu, utilizing a practical tabletop model of the Emerald City building and balcony. “Jon used a mini-Elphaba model to sketch out the flying journey,” Helman says. “Once we had the journey mapped out, Cynthia [Erivo] took on the stunt work.” The VFX team then enhanced the flying paths, generated Elphaba’s long cape and portions of her body and built the background Emerald City buildings and skies throughout the sequence. “Visual effects also generated the wide shots based on Cynthia’s stunt work,” Helman adds, highlighting the blend of practical stunts with digital enhancements that bring the magical moment to life.
- The VFX team was tasked with creating full digital environments, including Munchkinland, Shiz University, the Emerald City, tulip and barley fields, and a detailed forest, all of which required extensive digital extensions beyond the 25-foot-high practical sets.
- A custom-made CG replica of the Emerald City Express was built for key sequences, allowing the practical and digital trains to intercut smoothly during dynamic shots.
- Over 2,200 visual effects shots were created across multiple VFX houses, including ILM, Framestore, and others, with over 1,000 artists worldwide collaborating on the project to touch nearly every frame of the film.

The film of Wicked features beloved songs from the stage musical by Grammy and Oscar® winning composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, and a score by Grammy and Oscar® nominee John Powell and Schwartz.
To create the sound and capture the musical performances in the film, Oscar®-winning production sound mixer Simon Hayes (Les Misérables) and team were tasked with ensuring that the set of Wicked provided the performers the space and time to sing from the heart—just as if they were on a Broadway stage. Songs were performed live on set whenever possible. “The decision to sing live was a no-brainer for Cynthia [Erivo] and me,” Ariana Grande says. “It was such a privilege to work with such incredibly talented musical theater people on this film. I felt spoiled by everyone’s singing abilities and by our amazing sound department. They made sure everything we did was perfectly recorded. We were lucky to have the best of every department working all-hands-on-deck. Singing live was crucial not just because we’re all theater people, but also for the emotional element. Some songs just need to be live, especially in this environment.”
For the choreography for Wicked, director Jon M. Chu turned to his longtime collaborator, acclaimed In the Heights choreographer and three-time Emmy nominee Christopher Scott (So You Think You Can Dance). For Scott, who saw Wicked on stage seven times, it felt like a dream come true. “The theater kid in me was overwhelmed,” Scott says. Six months before production began, Scott and team began rehearsal on the film’s choreography and movement design. Chu wanted the movement in the film to be specific and distinct to Oz. “It’s not the movement that we know in our lives,” Chu says. “I have a great collaborator in Christopher. It’s not just movement of what’s in front of the camera, it’s movement of the camera itself.” The result is a style of movement and dance unlike any captured in a film musical before.

Wicked was the first title that was greenlit under Universal’s recently launched GreenerLight Program, which encourages sustainability throughout the entire filmmaking process from script to screen. During production, the filmmakers and Universal Pictures aspired to create a green set, in every sense of the word. Universal, which is aligned with Comcast NBCUniversal’s goal to be carbon neutral globally by 2035, brought on eco-consulting company SUSTAINABLE FILMS to create a comprehensive plan and oversee the production’s efforts.