Sumith Prasad
The filming of ‘Wicked Part Two: For Good,’ the second part of ‘Wicked,’ is set to begin in London, England, in 2024. The film, based on Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman’s eponymous musical, which is adapted from Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel ‘Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,’ and the characters from L. Frank Baum’s ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,’ revolves around Elphaba Thropp’s journey to become the green-skinned Wicked Witch of the West. Her life interconnects with Galinda Upland, a popular young woman.
London also serves as the location of the first installment of the two-part film. The lensing of ‘Wicked: Part One’ began in December 2022, with Sky Studios Elstree, Hertfordshire, serving as a principal location. The production of the first part was then delayed due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike in July 2023.
In June 2023, Cynthia Erivo, who plays Elphaba Thropp, confirmed that the script reading of the second movie began. The filming of the same in London may only begin after the conclusion of the first part’s production, which may recommence once the actors’ strike concludes. The city is arguably the busiest entertainment production hub in the United Kingdom. ‘Barbie,’ ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,’ ‘The Flash,’ ‘Secret Invasion,’ ‘Heart of Stone,’ ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,’ etc. are some of the recently released projects filmed in London.
Jon M. Chu, who is known for directing ‘Crazy Rich Asians,’ ‘In the Heights,’ and a couple of ‘Step Up’ films, is at the helm of the two ‘Wicked’ movies. “As we prepared the production over the last year, it became impossible to wrestle the story of ‘Wicked’ into a single film without doing some real damage to it,” Chu wrote in a statement about conceiving the second part. “As we tried to cut songs or trim characters, those decisions began to feel like fatal compromises to the source material that has entertained us all for so many years. We decided to give ourselves a bigger canvas and make not just one ‘Wicked’ movie but two!” he added.
The films are written by Schwartz and Holzman, the masterminds behind the source musical. Schwartz also serves as the composer of the movies. “We found it very difficult to get past ‘Defying Gravity’ without a break. That song is written specifically to bring a curtain down, and whatever scene to follow it without a break just seemed hugely anti-climactic,” the screenwriter explained the reason for dividing the film into two parts in a statement released to The Schwartz Scene.
In addition to Erivo, the ‘Wicked’ films star Ariana Grande as Galinda Upland, Jonathan Bailey (‘Bridgerton’) as Fiyero Tigelaar, Jeff Goldblum (‘Jurassic Park’) as the Wizard of Oz, Ethan Slater as Boq, Michelle Yeoh (‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’) as Madame Morrible, Marissa Bode as Nessarose Thropp, Bowen Yang (‘Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens’) as Pfannee, etc. Bronwyn James (ShenShen), Keala Settle (Miss Coddle), Aaron Teoh (Avaric), Colin Michael Carmichael (Professor Nikidik), and Adam James (Glinda’s father) are also part of the cast.
Marc Platt and David Stone, who co-produced the original musical, produce the two films. Universal Pictures scheduled the release of ‘Wicked Part Two: For Good’ on November 26, 2025, around a year after the potential release of the first movie on November 27, 2024.
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