A new Vanity Fair deep dive on the origins of Wicked has revealed a number of revelations about the story’s journey from the page to the stage to the screen.
According to the piece, following the success of Gregory Maguire’s original novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, Hollywood came calling shortly thereafter.
According to Maguire, within the first six months of publication, he had heard interest from Whoopi Goldberg’s manager who has attempted to purchase the rights for her (later confirmed by her publicist), along with Claire Danes. Salma Hayek and Laurie Metcalf, who all expressed interest in the project.
Ultimately, Demi Moore’s Moving Pictures production company acquired the option to adapt the book. For this version, Maguire had his eye on Moore to portray Elphaba. A-list names including Michelle Pfeiffer, Emma Thompson and Nicole Kidman considered for the role of Glinda.
Veteran screenwriter Linda Woolverton initially adapted Maguire’s novel into a screenplay that stayed fairly faithful to the book. Thanks to her work on Disney films, it was Linda who initially pitched the story as a musical to producer Suzanne Todd.
Ultimately, Broadway composer Stephen Schwartz won the day after Moving Pictures backed away from the project and former Universal executive, Marc Platt, granted him the opportunity to adapt Wicked as a musical.
Wicked, the untold story of the witches of Oz, stars Erivo as Elphaba who is misunderstood because of her unusual green skin and has yet to discover her true power. Grande plays Glinda, a popular young woman, gilded by privilege and ambition, who has yet to discover her true heart.
The two meet as students at Shiz University in the fantastical Land of Oz and forge an unlikely but profound friendship. After encountering The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads, and their lives take very different paths.
The Wicked film adaptation stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, Ariana Grande as Glinda, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Jeff Goldblum as The Wizard, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Ethan Slater as Boq, and Marissa Bode as Nessarose. The first part was released on November 22, 2024, with Wicked: For Good hitting theaters on November 21, 2025.
