"Wicked" Will Arrive Earlier Than Expected

American singer-actress Ariana Grande and English superstar Cynthia Erivo's upcoming movie adaptation of the hit Broadway musical “Wicked” is landing in theaters on November 22 — five days ahead of schedule.

It was originally initially set to open on November 27, the same day as Disney’s “Moana 2”. On its new release date, “Wicked” smartly avoids a box office battle royale against another movie musical that appeals to a similarly female demographic. 

Now, “Wicked” will get a jump on the Thanksgiving holiday, but it won’t be completely devoid of competition. The movie is set to debut on the same day as Paramount and Ridley Scott’s historical epic “Gladiator II”.

This is the second major date shift for “Wicked: Part One,” which was initially on the calendar for December 25. But Universal moved the movie to Thanksgiving to dodge Christmas releases like Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” and “Sonic the Hedgehog 3.”

"Wicked" is centered around the witches from the land of Oz and the unlikely friendship that is formed between The Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch.

The musical is based on the 1995 novel “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” by Gregory Maguire, which itself is a retelling of the 1900 L. Frank Baum’s classic “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”, is told from the perspective of the witches.

The adaptation is a prequel to “The Wizard of Oz” and recounts everything that happened before Dorothy sauntered down that iconic yellow brick road — and tells the story of the unlikely friendship between Elphaba, who later becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda, known as the Good Witch.

Jon M. Chu, the filmmaker of “Crazy Rich Asians” and “In the Heights" directs the two-part adaptation from a script by Winnie Holsman and composer Steven Schwartz.

The cast features Grande as Glinda the Good Witch, Erivo as Elphaba the Wicked Witch of the West, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, and Ethan Slater as Boq, and Bowen Yang as Pfannee.

“Wicked” marks Grande and Erivo's comeback to Broadway. The “7 Rings” pop star got her start in the 2008 Broadway musical 13 as a teenager before breaking out on Nickelodeon’s “Victorious”. Erivo won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Celie in “The Color Purple”.

Grande’s love for the production has been well-documented over the years, including her explosive performance of “The Wizard and I” on NBC’s “A Very Wicked Halloween” in 2018.

“Wicked” is divided into two parts. The first installment is slated to hit theaters on November 22, with the second installment set to release on November 26, 2025.