Wicked Hailed as a 'Masterpiece' in Glowing First Reactions: 'You Will Be Gagged Beyond Belief'

Wicked is defying gravity on the big screen, and the first reactions from early screenings are in.

The movie musical starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande as Elphaba and Glinda, respectively, is the first of director Jon M. Chu's two adaptations of the Broadway hit. Both stars received praise for their depiction of Oz’s witchiest heroines.

IndieWire's Erin Strecker wrote on X, "Happy to confirm WICKED is the best musical-to-movie adaptation since CHICAGO and MAMMA MIA. Ariana Grande....is perfection!?"

Katcy Stephan of Variety called the film a "masterpiece" and added that Grande, 31, "milks every moment with gusto, humor and hair flips" as Glinda. She wrote that she "can see why it needed to be 2 parts! Well worth the 20-year wait."

Variety's senior awards editor Clayton Davis wrote on X that pop-star Grande "was born to play" Glinda, saying it's "perfectly suited and genuinely a hilarious, scene-stealing performance." Erivo, 37, and her "heavenly vocals," meanwhile, "allow her to make Elphaba her own," Davis added.

Entertainment journalist Scott Menzel wrote on X that Wicked is "hands down one of the year’s best films" and the two lead actresses "completely knock it out of the park."

The Wrap's Drew Taylor wrote that "overall I liked it a lot and can’t wait" for the second part, however, the film "also falls into some of the traps of the Disney live-action remakes that diminishes its power — overlong, noisy, over-designed." Still, Taylor called Wicked "solid" and "occasionally quite moving (both leads are amazing)."

As Chris Murphy from Vanity Fair put it, Wicked is a "complete and utter slay" and "you will be gagged beyond belief ... Cynthia and Ari truly are impeccable."

The cast also includes Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard, Marissa Bode as Nessarose, Bowen Yang as Pfannee, Keala Settle as Miss Coddle, Ethan Slater as Boq, Peter Dinklage as Dr. Dillamond and Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible.

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Chu, 44, previously directed the 2021 movie adaptation of In the Heights. Both Wicked movies are adapted from the Tony-winning Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman musical, which was based on the 1995 novel from Gregory Maguire, which was in turn inspired by L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its sequels (plus 1939 Judy Garland film The Wizard of Oz). 

Wicked: Part One is in theaters Nov. 22. Part Two is slated for Nov. 26, 2025.