Who can say if the title of “Wicked: Part Two” has been changed for the better? But it has been changed for good.
Literally. Universal Pictures has renamed the sequel to this year’s musical hit to “Wicked: For Good.” The movie, which chronicles the second act of the beloved Broadway show, will open in theaters on Nov. 21, 2025.
“Wicked: Part One” landed on the big screen on Nov. 22 and has grossed $359 million domestically and more than $524 million worldwide to date. It’s currently the highest-grossing Broadway adaptation in domestic box office history, ahead of 1978’s “Grease” ($188.62 million), as well as the second-biggest worldwide stage-to-screen reimagining after 2008’s “Mamma Mia” ($611 million).
Jon M. Chu directed the two-part “Wicked” extravaganza, which stars Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh and Jonathan Bailey. Set before, during and after “The Wizard of Oz,” the story tells the origins of Grande’s Glinda (later known as Glinda the Good) and Erivo’s Elphaba (eventually dubbed the Wicked Witch of the West) before Dorothy landed in Oz and sauntered down the Yellow Brick Road.
“Part One” depicts Glinda and Elphaba’s time together at Shiz University, where they are forced to be roommates and eventually become besties. The second movie picks up after Elphaba is fully in control of her powers and has been declared an enemy of the state by the Wizard (Goldblum) and Madame Morrible (Yeoh). The sequel’s new title is inspired by the emotional Act 2 song about how the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good have been changed by their friendship with each other.
Chu teased the second half of the Ozian story, telling Variety that the follow-up film is “a doozy” — at least emotionally speaking.
“I did not know the context of where we’d be in society right now. It becomes eight times more relevant than before when you’re talking about truth and consequences of making the right or wrong choices,” he said. “It’s intense.”
From Variety US