New ‘Wicked’ Trailer Reveals Snippets of ‘Popular’ and ‘Defying Gravity’

Universal unveiled the new, official “Wicked” trailer on Wednesday, unleashing the full might of the studio’s long-in-the-works musical adaptation along with snippets of Ariana Grande singing “Popular” and Cynthia Erivo belting out “Defying Gravity.”

Tony winner Cynthia Erivo is Elphaba, the young lady who would go on to be known as the Wicked Witch of the West, while Grande plays the future Good Witch of the South, Glinda Upland. The film’s loaded cast also includes Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Ethan Slater, Michelle Yeoh, Marissa Bode and Bowen Yang.

Jon M. Chu directs this adaptation of the beloved stage musical, which will be released in two parts (though you wouldn’t know it from this trailer). The first “Wicked” hits theaters on Thanksgiving of this year, while the second part of the story opens Nov. 26, 2025.

Based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel, “Wicked” received critical acclaim on Broadway when it debuted in 2003 for its radical reinterpretation of “The Wizard of Oz.” Set before and during the events of the classic L. Frank Baum novel and its legendary MGM film adaptation, “Wicked” presents Elphaba not as a villain but as a misunderstood young woman who formed an unexpected friendship with Glinda while learning sorcery at Shiz University.

But the two future witches’ friendship is broken apart by the corrupt government of the Wizard of Oz (Goldblum) and the machinations of the university’s headmistress Madame Morrible (Yeoh).

Watch the full “Wicked” trailer in the video above.

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