Wicked‘s journey to the big screen has been a long one. The story of “Wicked” debuted as a novel back in 1995 when Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which was written by Gregory Maguire and based on L. Frank Baum’s characters in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, hit bookshelves imagining a friendship between Glinda the “Good Witch” and Elphaba, the “Wicked Witch of the West,” while the pair were studying sorcery at school, long before they cross paths with Dorothy. Maguire’s book was converted into a hit Broadway musical that made its debut in 2003 with music by composer Stephen Schwartz and characters made popular by Broadway legends Kristen Chenoweth and Idina Menzel. Through the years the musical has not only maintained relevancy, but grown in popularity, with performances in over 100 cities in 16 countries around the world.
The first half of the long-awaited cinematic saga, Wicked: Part One, was directed by Jon M. Chu and stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo as Glinda and Elphaba, respectively. It was released on November 22, 2024, made $114 million in its opening weekend domestically, and has already generated some early Oscars buzz for both of the leading ladies. Wicked: Part Two is set to premiere in theatres across the country on November, 21, 2025.
In celebration of Wicked: Part One taking the world by storm, here are 20 fun facts about the film. (Warning: Spoilers ahead)
1. Production and filming
Wicked, part one and two, was filmed at Sky Studios Elstree, which is just outside of London, England from late 2022 to early 2024. The production, which had to pause briefly for the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, shot over more than 150 days.
2. The title card
The Wicked title card that is displayed at the very beginning of the movie is similar to the font used at the beginning of The Wizard of Oz.
3. 9 million tulips
The tulip field that leads to the Munchkinland village was real! Director Jon M. Chu and production designer Nathan Crowley hired Belmont Nurseries (near King’s Lynn, England) to plant 9 million tulips specifically for the movie.
“And the tulips are the colours of the rainbow, so that all ties in with themes of its history,” said Crowley, nodding to the famous song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from the original The Wizard of Oz movie.
4. The sets are also real
Actual sets were built for Wicked (meaning there is no CGI here), because Jon M. Chu wanted to make everything feel as immersive as possible. Massive backlot sets were built practically out in the open air, including: Munchkinland, the Emerald City, and Shiz University. The school set, for example, took 5 months to build, while the Emerald City set was the size of four football fields.
Soundstages were, of course, used for interior locations, which included everything from the Shiz University’s rotating library to the Wizard’s inner sanctum in the heart of the Emerald City.
5. Glinda and Elphaba have a ton of costumes
In total, the costume team created over 1,000 costumes for both Wicked: Part One and Wicked: Part Two. Glinda has 25 total looks spread over the two films, but many have multiplies. Elphaba, on the other hand, has 24 looks over two films, with multiples.
6. Glinda’s bubble dress took more than 200 hours to make
The costume that took the most amount of effort was Glinda’s pink bubble dress, which she wears at the beginning of Wicked: Part One when she arrives in her bubble before “No One Mourns The Wicked.” The showstopping gown required 137 pattern pieces, and the bodice alone required 225 hours of hand-beading to affix its upwards of 20,000 beads.
7. Cynthia Erivo’s green makeup
It took upwards of four hours each morning to paint Cynthia Erivo’s body that signature shade of green. Depending on her costume for the day and how much of Erivo’s skin needed to be visible (like, if they only needed to cover her head, neck, and hands), the makeup team could reportedly get that timing down to 2 hours and 45 minutes.
8. And, removing it?
The green “paint” took about 45 minutes to wipe off of Cynthia Erivo at the end of each shoot, and they needed a special makeup remover to do it.
9. The right shade of green
According to Oscar-winner Frances Hannon, the hair and makeup supervisor for Wicked, her team’s hardest challenge was developing a shade of green that managed to look like skin rather than face paint. They went through multiple “green tests” to find the right shade, ultimately landing on something with a highlighter-yellow undertone because it read better on Cynthia Erivo’s darker skin and also “managed to reflect the light instead of absorb it.”
10. Cynthia Erivo’s prosthetic ears
Cynthia Erivo wore prosthetic ears throughout the entire movie while playing Elphaba. Her ears are normally covered in piercings, so instead of taking them all out, she wore fitted coverings to hide everything completely.
11. Singing live
The movie sets also doubled as a recording studio, and that’s because Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo insisted on singing live while filming, rather than relying on pre-recordings. According to Grande, sticking to a musical track would have been too limiting and wouldn’t have let them improvise or try new things. It also would have prevented more of an “emotional connection” between the characters, actors, and music. But, more importantly, they wanted to sing live “in solidarity with the women on Broadway who’ve done this eight shows a week.”
12. Cynthia Erivo did her own stunts
Singing live becomes even more impressive when you realize that Cynthia Erivo did all of her own stunts. Like, she was literally flying through the air in a corset and a harness while singing, which forced her to “shift the way she breathed” in order to sing properly.
13. There are no new songs in Wicked: Part One
Because Wicked is essentially a one-to-one translation of the play’s first act, all 11 songs—from the opening “No One Mourns the Wicked” all the way through to the show-stopping Elphaba anthem “Defying Gravity” have made the celluloid cut. One asterisk: There is technically one new instrumental track in Part One. “Ozdust Duet” was created by Wicked‘s original composer Stephen Schwartz for the film, which is simply credited on the soundtrack to the Wicked Orchestra.
14. However, there will be new songs in Wicked: Part Two
The second installment of Wicked (which will be released in theatres on November 21, 2025) promises even more music. Composer Stephen Schwartz has shared that he wrote two new songs for it.
15. The first song filmed was…
“Popular” was the very first song that they filmed when production began on Wicked over two years ago. Coincidently, “Popular” is one of the songs that Ariana Grande sang during the audition process for the film, too.
16. The spinning wheels are a homage to Fred Astaire
Speaking of songs… one of the film’s most memorable musical moments is “Dancing Through Life,” which is sung by Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), Galinda (Ariana Grande), Nessarose (Marissa Bode), and Boq (Ethan Slater). Production designer Nathan Crowley came up with the idea of the spinning library wheels as a homage to Stanley Donen’s 1951 movie musical Royal Wedding, which famously features Fred Astaire dancing on the ceiling. Special effects supervisor Paul Corbould rigged the rotating wheels in Shiz University’s library manually. There were three separate wheels that could go in different directions and then the ladders inside could spin on their own as well.
17. Jonathan Bailey’s favourite horse
Jonathan Bailey’s horse in Wicked is the same horse that he rode in Netflix’s Bridgerton. Reportedly Bailey loved working with the horse, named Jack, and requested him specifically for this film.
18. Madame Morrible’s hair is inspired by the weather
Because the sorceress and the Dean of Sorcery at Shiz University is able to control the weather, the wigs that Michele Yeo wears as Madame Morrible in the film were designed to look like clouds.
19. The wizard’s large wooden head
The large wooden head inside the Wizard’s inner sanctum in the heart of the Emerald City was also built practically for the film. It was 16 feet high, stood 12 feet off the ground and was essentially a giant puppet whose facial expressions were controlled using hydraulics.
20. The green train is real
The Emerald City Express train that transports Elphaba and Glinda to the Emerald City to see the Wizard is actually real. It was custom-built for the film. The green train was 16 feet tall and 106 feet long and ran on a 1000 foot track. It weighed 16 tons, and took two days to move.
Want more? You can read THE STORY OF: Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers From The Wizard Of Oz.
Wicked: Part One is currently in theatres everywhere. Wicked: Part Two is set to premiere in theatres across the country on November, 21, 2025.