Wicked
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Funko has released a limited-edition V Day-themed Wicked set, that re-imagines Glinda and Elphaba as […]
Ariana Grande is opening up about a new song from the upcoming Wicked sequel.
In a recent interview with Variety’s Awards Circuit podcast, published Saturday (Jan. 11), the 31-year-old pop star and actress opened up about what fans can expect from her character Glinda’s new song, penned by composer Stephen Schwartz, in the live-action adaptation of the Wicked sequel, Wicked: For Good, set for release on Nov. 21.
“It’s a pivotal moment in Glinda’s journey,” Grande said. “It shows a side of her we’ve never seen before. In the stage show, this transformation happens offstage. But in the movie, we get to see her make the decision that defines who she is. It’s a privilege to sing this song and be the first Glinda to bring it to life.”
The “We Can’t Be Friends” singer also dished on her dream role as Glinda and the preparation that went into bringing the beloved character to life.
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“I started acting lessons a year before I even knew when the auditions were happening,” she told the podcast. “I wanted to make sure I was ready. Transforming my voice to sing Glinda’s soprano parts took months. Pop singing and musical theater are so different. I had to retrain my muscles and reframe how I approached every note.”
Grande acknowledged that taking on the role of Glinda came with a significant sense of responsibility.
“From the moment it was announced, I realized this role would live with me forever. It’s an honor, but it also comes with so much weight,” she said. “I wanted to do it justice. Glinda isn’t just a character to me — she’s a symbol of growth and love, and I wanted to give her everything I had.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Grande further teased the already-confirmed deluxe version of Eternal Sunshine, revealing that the project is “in the can” and will include several new tracks.
“It’s a very special project,” Grande said. “I’m out there so much right now. I want to let my children miss me for two seconds. I’m excited to surprise them with it at some point, but I’m still mulling over the timing in my head. It’s not the end of ‘Peaches’ just yet, but she’s going in the closet for a minute.”
Universal has revealed the impressive sales on Jon M. Chu’s Wicked premium video-on-demand release. The movie-musical earned more than $70 million in the U.S. and Canada in its first week available to watch at home, per The Hollywood Reporter. The film, which stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande as Elphaba and Glinda, respectively, generated more […]
Ariana Grande is thanking Ryan Reynolds for his kind words about Wicked at the National Board of Review Annual Awards Gala.
At Tuesday night’s event, the Deadpool star presented the musical with the night’s main honors — and made the “Yes, And?” singer tear up in the process.
Taking the podium at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City, Reynolds praised Wicked for its promotion of “togetherness” while giving special shout-outs to director Jon M. Chu and producer Marc Platt. The Canadian actor also specifically commended Cynthia Erivo and Grande’s performances in the film, saying of the latter, “Your comedic athleticism and charm is never at the cost of emotional stakes.”
“I have watched your performance over and over again, and I have learned from you each and every time,” Reynolds continued of Grande. “If Gene Wilder were alive today, I think he would be in awe of you. The Glinda character is a high-wire act. Your entire performance is a trust fall, and you caught yourself. You are brilliant.”
Shortly after the ceremony, Reynolds shared a photo on Instagram Stories of the R.E.M. Beauty founder listening to his speech with tears welling up in her eyes. Grande then reposted it onto her own Story and wrote, “YOU REALLLY MOVED ME.”
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“CLEARLY LOL,” she added. “thank you for the [kindest] and most generous words last night am so serious they meant so much and i appreciate you !!!!!!”
The Victorious alum, Erivo, Chu and Platt were all on hand to celebrate Tuesday as Wicked took home the National Board of Review prize. At one point, the project’s two leading ladies gave a speech of their own defining the power of friendship-first collaboration between costars.
“It’s the singular ‘I love you’ text, or the random ‘I’m proud of you’ voice note,” Erivo said at one point before Grande hilariously dead-panned: “It’s being so good at acting that no one ever finds out how much we f–king loathe each other.”
The ceremony came two days after the 2025 Golden Globes, where Wicked took home the award for cinematic and box office achievement. Among the films it beat: Deadpool & Wolverine, which Reynolds starred in, co-wrote and co-produced. Following its Nov. 22 premiere, Wicked quickly became the top-grossing film based on a Broadway musical ever released. As of Jan. 5, the project has surpassed $681.3 million worldwide.
Its sequel, Wicked: For Good, hits theaters Nov. 21, 2025.
From the release date to new music, here’s what you can expect from the upcoming sequel.
Ariana Grande is explaining what really happened with that scrapped hip-hop version of “Popular,” which composer Stephen Schwartz had intended to put in Jon M. Chu’s Wicked films before the pop star pushed back on the idea.
In a cover story interview with Variety published Thursday (Jan. 2), Grande recalled first hearing the original rehearsal track for Glinda’s standout number at the very beginning of production in London — and she wasn’t totally thrilled with the instrumentation. “They had hip-hop drums,” she told the publication. “I called Jon first. I was shaking. ‘Is this something that we can meet in the middle on?’”
“And of course, it was so understood,” she continued. “And that’s what happens when you have a team who loves and respects each other and can hear those truths, because nothing has to be withheld.”
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The interview comes over a month after Schwartz — who created the soundtrack for the Wicked Broadway musical more than 20 years prior before working on the films — first revealed that the R.E.M. Beauty founder had said no to a hip-hop version of “Popular,” which he’d pitched “in the spirit of being open to new things” for the adaptation. “I thought, ‘Let’s refresh the rhythm. Let’s, maybe, I don’t know, hip-hop it up a little bit,’” he told The Los Angeles Times. “Ariana said, ‘Absolutely not, don’t do it. I want to be Glinda, not Ariana Grande playing Glinda.’”
In the new cover story, Grande clarified that the scrapped version had been less about making “Popular” sound like a song from her own multi-platinum discography and more about modernizing it for the times. Regardless, the “Yes, And?” singer still “wanted to lovingly and respectfully say, ‘Absolutely not!’” to the idea.
“Thinking through the lens of the character — Galinda Upland does not have that bounce to her at all,” she explained to Variety. “She’s as vanilla as they come.”
Though “Popular” never did get the hip-hop treatment, the track did experience some changes. Fans who saw the movie on or after its Nov. 22 premiere, or listened to its No. 2 Billboard 200-charting soundtrack, discovered that the bubbly anthem was extended with an alternate ending — featuring three key changes and an atmospheric opera note hit by Grande for the big finish.
“I had this idea for a new vocal ending,” Schwartz told The Times of the updates in November. “Ariana was a little hesitant about it, but I told her that if I had thought of it for the original show, this is how it would have been. Once she was reassured that this new bit of music was coming out of character, she was on board.”
See Grande with Chu and Wicked co-leading lady Cynthia Erivo on the cover of Variety below.
Ariana Grande is opening up further about Glinda’s sexual orientation after saying in November that her Wicked character “might be a little in the closet.”
In a Variety cover story published Thursday (Jan. 2), the singer-actress was asked to elaborate on her thoughts about Glinda’s possible queerness in relation to Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba, with whom the “Good Witch” nurtures an intense, passionate love-hate relationship. The two women’s dynamic is only ever referred to as a friendship in the original Broadway musical, but in Grande’s eyes, it might be something more.
“I think she’s a person who loves so much, and I do think that it goes beyond gender,” the R.E.M. Beauty founder told the publication of Glinda. “I also think that the ways in which she loves Elphaba so much, and that forgiveness and that unconditional love that they share — I think they’re in love with each other.”
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“I know, yes, it’s platonic …,” she amended before cutting herself off, not wanting to reveal too much ahead of Jon M. Chu’s second Wicked film. “But we’ll talk about it more in depth in movie two.”
Author Gregory Maguire, who penned the bestselling novel on which the Broadway show is based, also shared his thoughts on the sexual tension in the book between the two characters in a December interview. “That was intentional, and it was modest and restrained and refined in such a way that one could imagine that one of those two young women had felt more than the other and had not wanted to say it,” he told Them. “Or perhaps because a novelist can’t write every scene, perhaps when the lights were out and the novelist was out having a smoke in the back alley, the girls had sex in the bed on the way to the Emerald City. I wanted to propose this possibility, but I did not want to make a declarative statement about.”
Grande’s new interview comes over a month after the first Wicked hit theaters Nov. 22, 2024, quickly becoming the top-grossing movie adaptation of a Broadway musical ever. Its sequel, Wicked: For Good, will arrive almost exactly a year later in the fall of 2025.
Grande previously spoke about her character’s sexuality in a November interview with Gay Times, candidly telling the outlet, “Maybe Glinda might be a little in the closet.”
“You never know! Give it a little time!” she’d added. “I mean, it is just a true love. And I think that transcends sexuality, it’s just kind of a deep safety within each other.”
The “We Can’t Be Friends” musician’s co-leading lady agreed at the time. “I think Elphie … she goes wherever the wind goes,” Erivo told the publication. “I think she loves Glinda, I think she loves love. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with celebrating the deep connection that both of them have … it’s a relationship, it is true love.”
See Grande, Erivo and Chu on the cover of Variety below.
Ariana Grande is reflecting on a highly productive and successful year.
On Tuesday (Dec. 31), the 31-year-old pop star and actress looked back on 2024, sharing a series of nostalgic photos and videos. In her Instagram post, Grande highlighted some of the standout moments from the past 12 months, including the filming of her record-breaking musical movie Wicked and the release of her seventh album, Eternal Sunshine.
“a year full of art and heart,” the “We Can’t Be Friends” singer captioned the post. “thank you eternally for your love and support, words truly don’t suffice. i love you always and am wishing you a all a very happy new year !”
Grande’s carousel begins with a stunning shot of her “Sleeping Beauties”-themed look, worn at an afterparty following the 2024 Met Gala. The gallery also includes photos with friends and Wicked castmates, including Cynthia Erivo and Bowen Yang, along with a playful shot of her in a Catwoman-inspired outfit from her “The Boy Is Mine” music video. Several heartwarming pictures with her mom, Joan Grande, and brother Frankie Grande are also featured.
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In her Instagram Story on Tuesday, Grande shared a mysterious clip showing her head tilted against what appears to be film equipment, with the caption, “to be continued…,” alongside a heart emoji. The image is reminscent of one of her Eternal Sunshine alternative album covers.
It’s been a monumental year for Grande. The two-time Grammy winner, who ranked No. 9 on Billboard’s list of Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century, scored her sixth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with Eternal Sunshine in March. Meanwhile, her new movie Wicked became the highest-grossing film ever based on a Broadway musical at the domestic box office, earning $634.4 million worldwide since its Nov. 22 release.
The year was rounded out with a milestone for her holiday hit “Santa Tell Me,” which reached the Billboard Hot 100’s top 10 for the first time since its release in November 2014. The track landed at No. 9 on the chart dated Dec. 28, after peaking at No. 11 in 2023.
Timothée Chalamet and Elle Fanning have seen Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo‘s viral Wicked meme — and yes, the A Complete Unknown costars are holding space for them.
In a recent video posted by The Advocate‘s Tracy Gilchrist — who went viral in November for a confusing but hilarious interaction with the Wicked actresses regarding the lyrics of “Defying Gravity” — the stars of James Mangold’s Bob Dylan biopic recreated that much-analyzed moment during their own interview with the journalist.
The clip begins with Gilchrist immediately breaking the ice. “First, I just want to let you know that I am holding space for you,” she says, referencing her own viral catchphrase and making Chalamet and Fanning laugh.
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The Dune actor the sticks out his finger as Fanning grabs onto it, mimicking how the “Yes, And?” singer held onto the Pinocchio actress’ finger in Gilchrist’s memorable interview with the Wicked leading ladies. “It’s an honor talking to you,” Chalamet proceeds to tell Gilchrist earnestly. “I feel like, sort of starstruck. I was like, ‘Tracy! Holy s–t. Okay, this better be good.’”
“There’s nothing that we can do that can trump what happened, you know what I mean?” Fanning chimes in as all three laugh.
Gilchrist’s interview with the A Complete Unknown stars comes a little over a month after the “holding space” meme originated. While chatting with Grande and Erivo about Wicked for Out magazine mid-November, the journalist began by saying, “This week, people are taking the lyrics of ‘Defying Gravity’ and really holding space with that.”
Erivo immediately got emotional as the Victorious alum, looking a little bit confused, held her friend’s finger for support. For days afterward, fans online went wild dissecting the exchange, with the uproar focusing in particular on what the definition of “holding space” could be.
Shortly afterward, Grande and Erivo revealed that they were just as perplexed during the interview as everyone else was when watching it. “I didn’t know what any part of it meant,” the “7 Rings” vocalist said, laughing, in a Variety video breaking down the meme with the Harriet star and Wicked director Jon M. Chu. “I remember in the moment, asking myself, ‘Am I okay? Did I not hear something?’” Gilchrist herself has since explained the meaning of “holding space” in addition to having some fun with the viral moment in a commercial.
Watch Chalamet and Fanning recreate the viral “holding space” meme below.
Cynthia Erivo is changing Wicked for good, from her performance as Elphaba to the original song she helped write for the second movie.
While serving as a guest on the latest episode of Variety‘s Awards Circuit podcast posted Thursday (Dec. 26), the 37-year-old singer-actress revealed that she worked with composer Stephen Schwartz on crafting an original track sung by her character in the upcoming sequel to November’s Wicked Part 1. “I don’t know if you’re ready for it,” she began.
“I mean, I love the song and I remember when we filmed it, the cast and crew were crying,” she continued. “I don’t know if that’s just because they were emotional that day or that’s what the song does.”
“I feel like the song is very, very special,” Erivo added. “I have a feeling that even the title will move you.”
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The Pinocchio star didn’t reveal any further details about the track, which will seemingly appear on the soundtrack for the November 2025-slated Wicked: For Good alongside the film cast’s versions of Schwartz’s original songbook for the Wicked Broadway musical. The soundtrack for the first film recently opened at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 — the highest ever debut for a big-screen adaptation of a stage musical on the chart.
Schwartz, however, previously revealed that he and director Jon M. Chu had worked to add two new songs to the Wicked soundtrack, both of which fans will hear for the first time in Part 2. “The storytelling required it, and therefore they were created,” he told The Messenger in early December. “The intention was that they were organic and not imposed on the movie.”
The Variety podcast arrived on the same day the Wicked cast — which also includes Ariana Grande, Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey and Michelle Yeoh — announced that Part 1 will become available to stream at home Dec. 31. The digital release will include extended content and deleted scenes previously not included in the nearly three-hour film, including a hilarious snippet of Glinda giving Elphaba thorough instructions on how to toss her hair and “talk with your eyebrows.”
“It’s time to relive the experience together,” Erivo says in a clip posted to Wicked‘s socials Dec. 26. “Sing your heart out in the comfort of your home. There is nowhere like home to watch Wicked.”
See the announcement below.