Elphaba's tragic backstory has never hit so hard, and Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo have shown us a perspective of our beloved witches that we haven't seen before. As wonderful as the Wizard himself, there's a reason why Wicked grossed $164 million in its opening weekend against a $150 million budget, and why munchkins all across the land are hailing it as a modern classic!

Theaterland Reviews

"I was spellbound from start to finish, with constant goosebumps! The new Wicked movie was incredible. From Ariana's impeccable comedic timing to Cynthia's soulful voice, the casting was brimming with talent and had me in tears throughout. I highly recommend this movie - not just to musical lovers, but to everyone. Experience the magic that is Wicked!" - Saadiqah

"Seeing it on screen was a different level, and the hype is definitely real. Every tiny detail had been meticulously planned, the chemistry between Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, who embodied their roles in such an emotional way, was perfect and effortless. The film deserves all the praise and awards, and I still can't get Cynthia's version of Defying Gravity out of my head." - Kevin

"Though I have yet to witness Wicked live on stage, I now find myself compelled to see it a hundred times over. From its subtle comedic digs to its grande' song and dance sequences, Wicked captivates and enchants at every turn, making it an unforgettable experience." - Daniel

Critic Reviews

""Wicked" is a horse of another color and it's filled with huge sets, some dozen musical numbers and many moving parts that generations of fans know intimately. From the start, Chu gives "Wicked" an accelerated pace, amping it with restless, swooping camerawork and overloading it with a surfeit of everything, with ceaselessly moving bodies and eye-popping props." The New York Times

"Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande have chemistry in abundance as the central witches in glorious-looking but overlong Oz epic. And there's more to come." Chicago Sun-Times

"Home is where Dorothy was trying to get all along, of course, though Chu clearly designed Wicked to be experienced the old-fashioned way: on the biggest screen you can find, among a crowd of giddy theatergoers (inevitably singing along in some screenings). Unlike several recent tuners, which tried to hide their musical dimension from audiences, "Wicked" embraces its identity the way Elphaba does her emerald skin. Turns out such confidence makes all the difference in how they're perceived." Variety

"The movie musical is both superfluous and splendiferous, yet it casts a big-hearted spell that you'd have to be wicked not to appreciate at least a little." USA Today

"Chu has made a movie musical (the best since Chicago), even if it ends with its own "intermission", that manages to stand on its own as a fully satisfying screen entertainment, and also serves as a delicious invitation to an upcoming second half I quite frankly can't wait to see." Deadline

"Wicked succeeds because of some unreproducible, lightning in a bottle convergences - of director, stars, craftspeople, and high-status material. But Wicked also makes a broader case for patience and careful thought, for grand ambition honed over the course of many years. In order to defy gravity, gravity must first be understood." Vanity Fair

"The respective casting of those roles Ariana Grande as the minimally gifted sorcery student who will go on to become Glinda, Good Witch of the North, and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, future Wicked Witch of the West is the movie's winning hand. Their vocals are clear and strong and supple to a degree many of us have learned not to expect after too many movie musicals that cast merely adequate singers and then Auto-Tune them to death." The Hollywood Reporter

"It's a bright and colorful whirlwind. The story hits hard, the characters come alive, the music and dancing are a delight." TheWrap

"People who love this story and these characters will be delighted, and there's much here for people who aren't familiar with the musical but are looking for a cinematic escape around the holidays." RogerEbert.com

"Wicked is a thrill, at times wildly funny, heart-soaring, and ultimately inspirational in spite of itself." Mashable

"Wicked is a well-oiled machine in the hands of Jon M. Chu. This film adaptation epitomizes what modern movie musicals can and should be, embracing its source material while cleverly translating it to screen. Tear-jerking performances by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo make the movie, playing to their individual strengths to bring to life the rapport between Glinda and Elphaba, who'll go on to become the good and wicked witches of Wizard of Oz fame." IGN

Still, despite coming to a pause rather than an ending (Part Two is still to come), it quite literally ends on a high note an intensely powerful one at that. And there's no defying Defying Gravity'." Empire

"The film works on an emotional level, and yet there are also well-delivered lessons about growing fascism that are tragically poignant in our American era. The set pieces are big and bold, and the dance numbers are creative and colorful. Grande is continually hilarious as the charmingly vapid Galinda, while Erivo is breathtakingly powerful as the so-called Wicked Witch. Both Grande and Erivo sound glorious through beautiful interpretations of modern musical classics like "Defying Gravity." It all coheres into one of the best silver screen adaptations of a musical in ages, and easily one of the year's best pictures." Collider

"It's arguable if Wicked could ever be a meaningfully persuasive prequel for the characters in The Wizard of Oz as we actually see them in the 1939 film, as this would involve cancelling their powerfully timeless, mythological aura, and instead substituting the more banal idea of human development. But this is the joke, and the film plays it knowingly: this is an Oz for the TikTok generation, irreverent, colorful, and proudly maximalist. Even if it stumbles in moments, it's hard not to admire its gumption." The Guardian