Ariana Grande & Cynthia Erivo Cast As Lead Witches In ‘Wicked’ Movie

Broadway hit Wicked is coming to the silver screen starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande as the leading witches.

Director Jon M. Chu made the announcement on Twitter that Erivo will be playing “bad” witch Elphaba, and Grande will be playing “good” witch Galinda. Both Erivo and Grande have made their mark on Broadway. Erivo was cast in Genuis: Aretha, Harriet, and Grande was featured in the musical 13 when she was younger.

“Get ready for a match-up like you’ve never seen!” Chu wrote on Twitter. “In pink and green!”

Erivo and Grande expressed their excitement over Instagram, also sharing with their followers that they sent to each other as congratulations. The two are known to have powerful voices that will complement each other in their new film. For Grande, who has been a long-time Wicked lover and has a song named after the musical, “Popular,” it’s a dream come true.

Erivo went on Instagram and posted the floral arrangement her new co-star sent and showed the note Grande enclosed, which read, “Dear Cynthia, honored doesn’t even begin to cover it. I cannot wait to hug you. See you in Oz.”

The note Erivo sent to Grande said, “Congratulations Miss A, the part was made for you. I look forward to sharing this musical journey with you.”

The Wicked movie has been in the works for quite some time. The original composer of the musical Stephen Schwartz confirmed in 2020 that “progress was being made” to get the production to begin.

Schwartz and original book writer Winnie Holzmann are collaborating on the screenplay adaption with Marc Platt as the producer. The project is set to begin filming in summer 2022 in the U.K.