"Wicked" (also known as "Wicked: Part I") is a 2024 American musical fantasy film directed by Jon M. Chu and written by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox. It adapts the first act of the namesake stage musical by Stephen Schwartz and Holzman, which was loosely based on the 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire, in turn based on L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", its sequels and its 1939 film adaptation. 
The film stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba Thropp and Ariana Grande as Galinda Upland, with Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Marissa Bode, Peter Dinklage, Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum rounding out the principal cast. Set in the Land of Oz before Dorothy Gale's arrival from Kansas, it follows Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West, and her friendship with her classmate Galinda, the future Glinda the Good.
Universal Pictures and Marc Platt, who both produced the stage musical, announced the film adaptation in 2012. After a long development and multiple delays, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Chu was hired to direct, with Erivo and Grande cast in 2021. The film was split into two to avoid cutting plot points and expand the characters' journeys and relationships. Principal photography began in England in December 2022, was interrupted in July 2023 by the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, and was resumed and completed in January 2024.
"Wicked" premiered at the State Theatre in Sydney, Australia, on November 3, 2024, and was theatrically released in the United States on November 22. The film received critical acclaim and has grossed $ worldwide on a $ budget. It was named one of the top 10 films of 2024 by the American Film Institute and won Best Film at the National Board of Review, making it the first fantasy film to win the award and first musical to win the since "Moulin Rouge!" (2001). 
At the 97th Academy Awards, the film received ten nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actress for Erivo, and Best Supporting Actress for Grande. It won Cinematic and Box Office Achievement at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards, where it was also nominated for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. It tied with "Conclave" for a leading eleven nominations at the 30th Critics' Choice Awards, including Best Picture, and received a record-tying five at the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards, including Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role for Bailey, Outstanding Performance by a Cast, and Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble.
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