The movie adaptation of Broadway’s “Wicked” has finally found its rival witches.
Variety reported Thursday that Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are set to star in the long-gestating musical film, which will be directed by Jon M. Chu. Grande will play Glinda the Good Witch, while Erivo will defy gravity as Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West.
Both stars shared the casting news on Thursday with emotional social media posts depicting the moments when Chu ― whose credits include “Crazy Rich Asians” and “In the Heights” ― told them each they’d landed the roles.
“Pink goes good with green,” Erivo wrote, alluding to Glinda and Elphaba’s signature colors. Hinting at one of her character’s best-known songs, Grande proclaimed, “Thank goodness.”
Based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 book, “Wicked” is a reimagining of “The Wizard of Oz” as told from the perspective of Oz’s witches Elphaba and Glinda. The musical debuted in 2003 and is currently Broadway’s fifth longest-running show.
Many fans were quick to point out that Grande appeared to predict her own casting all the way back in 2011 after she caught a performance of “Wicked” on Broadway.
Erivo, a 2020 Oscar nominee for “Harriet,” rose to fame for her Tony-winning portrayal of Celie in Broadway’s “The Color Purple” in 2015. She’ll also star as the Blue Fairy in the live-action version of Disney’s “Pinocchio,” which wrapped filming earlier this year.
Though she’s globally known as a pop songstress, Grande began her career on Broadway, starring in the short-lived musical “13” in 2008.
She’s also enjoyed a long friendship with Broadway’s original Glinda, Kristin Chenoweth. The two women were co-stars in NBC’s “Hairspray Live!” in 2016 and, three years later, sang a duet on Chenoweth’s album “For the Girls.” This fall, Chenoweth joined NBC’s “The Voice” as an adviser for Grande’s team.
Idina Menzel, who won a Tony in 2004 for originating the role of Elphaba on Broadway, congratulated Erivo and Grande on Instagram.
“Congrats to two amazing women,” she wrote. “May it change your lives for the better forever and ever as it has for us. So much love.”