“Wicked” hits theaters a week ahead of schedule

We'll be heading to Oz sooner than we thought!

Universal Pictures announced Monday (July 1) that the first installment of director Jon M. Chu's Bad The film adaptation will hit theaters on November 22nd, five days earlier than its original November 27th release date. Now it will arrive on the same date Gladiator II.

Based on the Broadway musical of the same name by Stephen Schwartz, Bad follows two magical enemies-turned-best friends played by Ariana Grande, who will play Glinda, and Cynthia Erivo, who will play Elphaba. The project will be split into two separate films. Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Jeff Goldblum and Bowen Yang are also in the cast, while Marc Platt and David Stone are producing.

In May, Universal Pictures released the official trailer for the film, and the three-and-a-half-minute preview begins with Grande's voiceover asking, “Are people born evil? Or is malice imposed upon them?'

Also dropped were behind-the-scenes footage from the 2023 film's UK shoot, as well as clips of Erivo and Grande reacting to the news that they had been cast as the project's leads. “God, thank you!” the “We Can't Be Friends” musician says tearfully in the video. “Love [Glinda] so much, I will take such good care of her!'