‘Wicked’ “Perfectly Captures the Magic” in First Reactions Praising Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo

Wicked is about to be pop-u-ler...LAR. First reactions to director Jon M. Chu’s film adaptation of the Broadway musical on Wednesday saw audiences raving about performances from Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, while also praising the movie’s production quality.

Journalist Simon Thompson called the movie an “oz-some spectacle that pops and enchants on the big screen,” adding that the movie is “an absolutely stunning vision” and that Grande and Erivo “knock it out of the park.”

Wicked will be the first of Chu’s two films adapting the hit musical, with part two set for Thanksgiving 2025. The show — originally based on the best-selling novel by Gregory Maguire — tells the untold story of the witches of Oz, with Erivo as Elphaba and Grande as Glinda. It premiered on Broadway in 2003, with Idina Mezel Kristin Chenoweth. Winnie Holzman, the stage production’s book writer, and Stephen Schwartz, Academy Award-winning composer and lyricist, adapted the musical for the screen.

On X, formerly Twitter, original Broadway Glinda Chenoweth wrote that audiences will “all be changed for good” upon the film’s release, adding that she is “counting down the days.”

“Wicked is a cinematic spectacle that serves as one of the very best big screen adaptations of a Broadway musical ever,” Scott Menzel wrote on X. “Jon M. Chu perfectly captures the magic of the Broadway show while adding in some of his own unique flourishes to the source material. Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo completely knock it out of the park as Elphaba and Galinda. Jonathan Bailey is also quite phenomenal in the film. Wicked lives up to the hype and often succeeds it. Oh, and there is one scene that fans of the Broadway show are going to absolutely lose their minds over. Wicked is hands down one of the year’s best films.”

Erin Strecker wrote, “Happy to confirm WICKED is the best musical-to-movie adaptation since CHICAGO and MAMMA MIA. Ariana Grande….is perfection!?”

Another online wrote that the movie “defied gravity… and my expectations!” adding that “Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande stun in this epic musical journey.”

See more first reactions to the stage-to-screen extravaganza below.