Wicked trailer shows friendship of Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s characters

A new trailer for the upcoming Wicked blockbuster shows the special friendship between Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s lead characters.

The two-part film is an adaptation of the hit musical and stars Oscar-nominated actress Erivo as Elphaba, alongside Grammy-winning pop star Grande, who plays Glinda.

Directed by Crazy Rich Asians filmmaker Jon M Chu, Wicked also stars Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Bridgerton star Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero Tigelaar and Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard of Oz.

The trailer opens in dramatic fashion as a voiceover announces “fellow Ozians, the Wicked Witch of the West is dead” as the witch’s hat can be seen lying on the floor in a pool of steaming liquid.

In between the words “discover everything that happened before Dorothy dropped in” flashing on the screen, Grand’s Glinda can be seen arriving in a bubble while Erivo’s Elphaba is seen hiding as a voiceover says “don’t let her get away”.

Taking viewers back to the beginning, Glinda says: “Let me tell you the whole story, our paths did cross at school” as clips of the pair when they first met are shown.

Bailey’s Fiyero also features in a forest scene alongside Elphaba in which he asks her: “Why is it you’re always causing some kind of commotion?”

As she replies: “I don’t cause commotions, I am one. Some of us are just different,” she can be seen gently holding his face.

Later, Glinda is seen telling Elphaba: “Listen to me, you can do anything” to which she replies “I know”, before it cuts to her breaking through a window and flying out on her broomstick.

The pair can also be seen exploring Emerald City as the voiceover of Goldblum’s Wizard of Oz says: “The best way to bring folks together is to give them a real good enemy.”

It ends with Glinda encouraging Elphaba not to be afraid, to which she defiantly says “it’s the wizard that should be afraid of me” before a clip of her soaring into the sky on her broom is shown.

Running throughout the background is the duo’s powerful rendition of the classic Wicked hit Defying Gravity.

The film serves as a prequel to The Wizard Of Oz, exploring the bond and lost friendship between the two witches, with the pair already estranged in the film adaptation and classic novel in which Elphaba is known as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda as the Good Witch of the South.

The first part of Wicked arrives in cinemas on November 28 in the UK.