Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo cast in the upcoming film Wicked

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo have been cast in the major roles in Universal’s upcoming film adaptation of the legendary Broadway musical Wicked.

Grande and Erivo have created a name for themselves as actors and singers with distinct styles. Both performers have theatre backgrounds, with Grande beginning her career as a youngster after appearing in the Broadway musical 13 in 2008. Before becoming the Grammy Award-winning megastar she is today, Grande acted in two Nickelodeon series.

Erivo’s career took off after she played Celie in Broadway’s The Color Purple, a performance for which she received both a Tony Award and a Grammy award.

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo casts in Wicked

Bringing the popular Wicked musical to the big screen has been a long and difficult process. Universal first announced its ambitions for the picture in 2004, and it was eventually scheduled to premiere in 2019. However, Wicked has seen multiple major delays since then, with the official production start date now set for June 2022. After Stephen Daldry left the project in 2020, Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians, In The Heights) was ultimately named as the new director early this year.

Now, a major new update for the highly anticipated film has arrived: Grande will play Glinda alongside Erivo as Elphaba in Wicked. With an announcement on Twitter, director Jon M. Chu was the first to reveal the casting news.

Take a look at Chu’s post below:

For the long-awaited Wicked film, things are finally looking good. This adaptation should already be regarded a must-see with Chu at the helm and Grande and Erivo in the two lead parts.

After successfully adapting Lin-Manuel Miranda’s popular In The Heights musical this past summer, Chu has demonstrated he has what it takes to bring this musical to the big screen.

While Grande and Erivo’s great acting/singing skills make them ideal for the major roles, the fact that they both have a history of performing on stage will give the show a deeper quality, as they will approach it with a true appreciation for the art form.