Michelle Yeoh shared what got her to sign on to the upcoming two-film adaptation of Broadway's Wicked on a January 24 visit to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The project sees her reuniting with her Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu, but the singing concerned Yeoh. As it turned out, what she really needed was a message from the film's Broadway-alum stars, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.
Grande and Erivo are starring as Glinda and Elphaba, respectively, in the upcoming releases, set to hit movie theatres in November 2024 and 2025. The cast also includes West End Company Olivier winner and Bridgerton star Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, SpongeBob SquarePants star Ethan Slater as Boq, Jeff Goldblum as The Wizard, and newcomer Marissa Bode as Nessarose, the first wheelchair-using actor in the musical's history to take on the role. Stage and screen star Keala Settle, SNL's Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James, Aaron Teoh, and Colin Michael Carmichael will play roles new to the musical's screen version, with Settle as Miss Coddle, Carmichael as Professor Nikidik, and Yang, James, and Teoh as Shiz students Pfannee, ShenShen, and Avaric, respectively. Yang recently revealed in an appearance on Bravo's Watch What Happens Live that the role of Doctor Dillamond has not yet been cast, with a puppeteer filling in during filming.
Yeoh also shares in her The Tonight Show appearance that she recently completed her own filming for the films, though it remains unclear if the project has finished filming overall. (The project was reportedly nearly done when the SAG/AFTRA strike paused production in 2023, with just a few moments left to capture following the strike's end.) Watch the full interview above.
Wicked book writer Winnie Holzman has penned the screenplay (which reportedly includes new songs by Stephen Schwartz), and Tony winner Paul Tazewell is designing costumes.
Wicked, injecting a new backstory onto the classic tale The Wizard of Oz, debuted on Broadway in 2003 and continues to be an audience favorite at the Gershwin Theatre. Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, the musical features music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Holzman. The original cast included Tony winners Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth as Elphaba and Glinda, respectively. The musical has subsequently been performed in more than 100 cities across 16 countries, and, in April 2023 surpassed Cats to become the fourth longest-running production in Broadway history.
READ: "My Heart Broke Open": Cynthia Erivo Shares Thoughts on Playing Elphaba in Wicked Films
The show won 2004 Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Musical (Menzel), Best Costume Design (Susan Hilferty), and Best Scenic Design (Eugene Lee).
