Korea will be the first country to watch the musical fantasy film “Wicked,” starring pop star Ariana Grande and actor Cynthia Erivo, its distributor Universal Pictures said Thursday.

“Wicked” is set to hit local theaters on Nov. 20, two days ahead of its North America’s premiere on Nov. 22.

Directed by Jon M. Chu, the film is an adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway musical of the same name, based on the 1995 American novel “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” written by Gregory Maguire.

The film follows the untold stories of Elphaba, played by Ervio, and Glinda, played by Grande, before they became the well known characters from "The Wizard of Oz" (1939): the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good, respectively. It will be released in two parts, with the second part set for November 2025.

Universal Pictures also revealed a featurette showing the behind-the-scenes of the creation of the set of “Wicked” on its Youtube channel the same day.


BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]