Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo just announced on their Instagram handles that they landed parts in Universal’s Jon M. Chu-directed feature adaptation of the Broadway musical smash Wicked.
Erivo will play Elphaba, while Grande will portray Glinda.
The two teamed on announcing their attachments on their Instagrams. Erivo posted a series of photos, one of her elated writing, “Pink goes good with Green 💚💚💚@wickedmovie @jonmchu @arianagrande”.
Grande’s included photos of Erivo and her getting the Zoom call from Chu saying she was being cast in the big-screen musical; the superstar writing, “thank goodness 💘 @jonmchu @cynthiaerivo @wickedmovie”
She the posts below.
Wicked the movie is currently in development, with production set to start in summer 2022 in the UK. Pic is being produced by Marc Platt through his Universal-based Marc Platt Productions. Senior Executive Vice President of Production Erik Baiers and Vice President of Production Development Lexi Barta will oversee the project on behalf of Universal.
Wicked is still running on Broadway in its 18th year.
Erivo is a Grammy-, Emmy-, and Tony Award-winning actress, singer and producer, as well as an Oscar, Golden Globe and SAG nominee. She blasted off in the West End and Broadway in The Color Purple. She was recently nominated for an Emmy for her portrayal of Aretha Franklin in National Geographic’s anthology series Genius: Aretha. Erivo released her debut album, Ch. 1 Vs. 1, with Verve/Universal Music Group in September.
Grammy-winning, multi-platinum recording artist Grande is the first artist to hold the top three Billboard Hot 100 spots since The Beatles in 1964 with “7 Rings,” “Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored,” and “Thank U, Next.” Last year, she became the first and only artist to have five singles debut at #1 in the charts history. This year, she made history as the first artist to simultaneously hold three top 10 spots on Billboard Pop Airplay and Mediabase Top 40 Charts with “positions,” “34+34” and “pov.” By age 28, she released six albums which have all gone platinum and has surpassed 98 billion streams globally – she’s Spotify’s most streamed female artist of the past decade – while rapidly becoming one of the biggest pop stars of our generation with her powerhouse vocals and unmatched presence both on stage and with her fans. She is a coach on NBC’s The Voice and is starring in the upcoming Adam McKay film Don’t Look Up opposite Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, for Netflix.
At 15, she landed the role of “Charlotte” in the Broadway production of 13. From there, she was cast in Nickelodeon’s Victorious which led to a spin-off starring Grande’s character in Sam & Cat. In 2016, Grande starred as “Penny Pingleton” in Hairspray Live! for NBC. That same year she performed double duty as host and musical guest on Saturday Night Live.