The cast of Jon M. Chu’s Wicked adaptation is getting more magical with each new addition. According to Variety, Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) will play Madame Morrible in the film with more stars than flying monkeys.
In Wicked, Madame Morrible is the headmistress of Crage Hall at Shiz University, an institution of higher education in the city of Shiz in Gillikin, the northern province of Oz. The cast of Wicked includes Ariana Grande as Glinda, Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, Bridgerton’s Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, and Ethan Slater as Boq, with Jeff Goldblum rumored to play the Wizard of Oz. The presentation is a two-part theatrical event, with films debuting in theaters on Christmas 2024 and 2025.
“As we prepared the production over the past year, it became increasingly clear that it would be impossible to wrestle the story of ‘Wicked’ into a single film without doing some real damage to it. As we tried to cut songs of trim characters, those decisions felt like fatal compromises to the source material that has entertained us all for so many years,” Chu wrote in a lengthy Twitter post.
Universal has been working on a Wicked film adaptation since 2004. Initially, Stephen Daldry was attached to direct but left the project due to scheduling conflicts. The movie’s original release was December 22, 2021, but that didn’t happen. In addition to Covid casting a production spell, Chu went back and forth about dividing the story into two captivating presentations.
The three-time Tony Award-winning stage musical was adapted from Gregory Maguire’s bestselling novel by writer Winnie Holzman and composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz, who collaborated on the screenplay adaptation. The story explains how a green-skinned woman framed by the Wizard of Oz becomes the Wicked Witch of the West. Maguire’s yarn is the ultimate fairy tale origin story and could have you rooting for the villain by the time it’s all over.
Yeoh, whose star is burning brighter than ever, is a brilliant addition to the cast. After bringing down the house with one of 2022’s best films, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Yeoh’s Hollywood dance card is filled with projects looking to cut a rug. Will 2023 be the Year of the Yeoh? All signs point to yes!