Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo pictured behind the scenes of the first Wicked movie

The entire world fell under Wicked’s spell around this time last year – and it’s about to happen all over again thanks to the release of the much-hyped sequel Wicked For Good.

In 2024, the hit musical dominated both both the box office and the public conversation, with leads Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande receiving a wave of praise (as well as a pair of Oscar nominations) for their performances as Elphaba and Glinda.

Since that “to be continued...” teaser flashed up at the end of Defying Gravity, Wicked devotees have spent the last year consuming every bit of Wicked media there is to enjoy, and their patience is now about to be rewarded.

With that in mind, we’ve rounded up 22 of our favourite behind-the-scenes facts about how the first movie finally made its way to the big screen. And spoiler alert, it was no walk in the park (or, indeed, skip down the yellow brick road) to make it happen...

First of all, we were supposed to get a film adaptation of Wicked years earlier than we did

Elphaba and Glinda exploring the Emerald City in Wicked

When it was originally conceived in its current form, Wicked was tipped to hit cinemas in December 2019, with Stephen Daldry (whose work includes Billy Elliot, The Hours, The Reader and numerous episodes of The Crown) slated to direct.

However, when this turned out not to be the case, it was actually Cats that was given Wicked’s release slot and… well… we all know how that turned out.

Once Jon M Chu signed on as director, filming got underway on the film in 2022, around the time it was announced it would be split into two.

It was an arduous shoot, though, and it hit even further delays when production was shut down due to the Hollywood strikes of 2023, with filming only officially coming to an end at the beginning of this year.

There were a lot of people considered for the roles of Elphaba and Glinda before Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande were cast

Days before Wicked hit cinemas, an unconfirmed story published by Page Six alleged that when Stephen Daldry was still at the helm, he had Lady Gaga in mind to play Elphaba, and even met with her several times with the hopes of “fleshing out the character”.

Lady Gaga was reportedly in the running to play Elphaba at one stage

The Penguin star Cristin Milioti also confirmed she at one point auditioned to play the lead, while Nicole Scherzinger and Lea Michele were also named in the press as potential Elphaba performers in the media after the project was first announced

As for Glinda, Amanda Seyfried, Dove Cameron and Renée Rapp have all confirmed they auditioned for the part, while Oscar nominee and star of Everything Everywhere All At Once star Stephanie Hsu claimed she was invited for a meeting, but turned it down.

Both Nick and Joe Jonas Brothers also tried out for the role of Fiyero, with Page Six claiming that Shawn Mendes had been Stephen Daldry’s choice before he stepped away from the project.

Shawn Mendes

Cynthia Erivo previously screen-tested with two different Glindas – who didn’t exactly impress her

Asked by the New York Times for her reaction to Ariana being cast, the British actor responded: “Thank goodness, because it was not the two ladies that I was auditioning with.”

In fact, Cynthia and Ariana never screen-tested together, with the latter telling the Express that the director already “just knew that it was going to work” between the two of them.

Cynthia told Graham Norton: “We only got together once we knew we were doing it. The first time we sang we realised our voices work so well together.”

In fact, Ariana Grande wound up auditioning for both roles at one stage

Speaking on the Sentimental Men podcast, the Break Free singer recalled: “I had an inkling in my heart always that it was going to be Glinda, but I was hearing really mixed things from people who were like, ‘Oh, they maybe want you to read for both’.

“And I was like, I guess that’s because they don’t know what my voice is, and maybe they think vocally I might be better-suited for Elphaba. I secretly knew that I was only meant for Glinda.”

So, at her audition, Ariana performed not just a rendition of Popular, but also Defying Gravity and No Good Deed.

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo at the London premiere of Wicked

Director Jon M Chu later put this down to “mixed messaging”, as he’d always only ever considered Ariana for the role of Glinda.

“I was like, ‘Of course she’s coming in for Galinda.’ And then my casting director was like, ‘No, I think she thinks she’s coming in for Elphaba.’ I’m like, ‘That was not the plan.’ And they’re like, ‘Well, she prepped it’,” he told Entertainment Weekly.

When it came to creating his version of Oz, Jon M Chu was adamant he’d use as........

© HuffPost