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The highly anticipated “Wicked” movie is here. After a tear-filled press tour, Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba and Ariana Grande’s Glinda took audiences by storm, and now the film is available to watch at home digitally.

The two leading ladies have become true sisters in the rollout of the film, even revealing several matching tattoos together. While the duo seem picture perfect for the musical adaptation, a list of stars admitted to being in the running for the powerhouses, including Dove Cameron, Renee Rapp and Amanda Seyfried for Glinda.

Jon M. Chu’s adaptation is chalked full of musical theatre trained actors, here’s your guide to the “Wicked” cast.

Cynthia Erivo in “Wicked” (Credit: Universal Pictures) Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba

Erivo leads the larger-than-life film adaptation as Elphaba. The witch (who was born green) attends Shiz University and is randomly paired with popular girl Galinda (Ariana Grande) as her freshman year roommate.

2024 has very nearly reached its end and, for the most part, the box office has bounced back in what's proven to be a challenging few years post-pandemic.

Over the past 365 days or so, there have been some unexpected and noteworthy flops as well as a few surprise hits. Other movies, meanwhile, have been cut off at the knees by the very studios releasing them after they were rushed out on Digital platforms mere weeks after arriving in theaters.

In this feature, we've rounded up the 10 highest-grossing movies of 2024 and, believe it or not (and you probably will given what a mixed bag this year has been for the genre), only two of them are based on comic books.

You can find out what came out on top this year by clicking the "Next"/"View List" buttons below.

10. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice ($451 Million)

Beetlejuice is back! After an unexpected family tragedy, three generations...

Universal’s “Wicked” is officially the highest-grossing Broadway adaptation in global box office history, overtaking 2008’s “Mamma Mia” to notch the harmonious milestone.

“Wicked” has generated $634 million worldwide after six weeks of release while “Mamma Mia” amassed $611 million (not adjusted for inflation) by the end of its box office run. “Wicked,” starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, has earned $424 million domestically and, weeks ago, surpassed 1978’s “Grease” ($188.62 million) as the biggest Broadway adaptation at the domestic box office. These benchmarks are good news for Universal since the second half of the big-budget musical, “Wicked: For Good,” opens in 2025. This record is also notable because it bucks the recent trend of underseen stage-to-screen remakes, including 2023’s “The Color Purple” and 2021’s “West Side Story,” “Dear Evan Hansen” and “In the Heights.”

Meanwhile, Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” cemented a franchise record with $74 million in its international box office debut, the...

Refresh for more…Mufasa continued to get from the count on Thursday, beating Sonic The Hedgehog 3, $12M to $11.55M. The 3-day and 5-days on these two family movies are expected to be close. Mufasa is currently looking to be the stronger at $58M. Running total through yesterday on Mufasa is $76.4M while Sonic 3 stands at $99.55M.

But enough about those filthy animals, the real story over the holiday are the classic labels, Focus Features and Searchlight which are both seeing record openings. Post Covid, Focus Features rose from the ashes this weekend to remind the town how hip they can make movies, the win here being Robert Eggers’ gothic vampire movie Nosferatu which is eyeing a $21.4M 3-day and $40.6M 5-day after $7.6M yesterday, the pic’s second day of release. At five days, that’s the biggest Focus Features opening ever, besting the Friday-Tuesday take of 2019’s Downton Abbey which did $38.4M.

A splash of auteurish openings on Christmas Day, with Focus Features’ Nosferatu, Searchlight’s A Complete Unknown, A24’s naughty Babygirl and Rachel Morrison’s The Fire Inside, is poised to send the holiday week’s box office to a potential $280 million tally. That puts it on par with last year’s holiday week that was boosted by Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Wonka, Migration and The Color Purple.

Christmas week 2021 holds the post-Covid record for the most made by movies with $292.4M during that time, a majority of that from Sony/Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Still, it’s interesting. Even though there isn’t a massive, oxygen-sucking tentpole in the marketplace, the heavy supply of family titles in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Mufasa, Wicked and Moana 2. plus the new offerings, are making for a lucrative season. Comscore projects we’ll end 2024 at $8.75 billion, just 3% shy of 2023’s $9 billion tally.

In Marc Forster's 2001 drama "Monster's Ball," Halle Berry plays Leticia Musgrove, a woman at the end of her rope. Her husband has been convicted of murder and is executed by the state of Georgia early in the film. Leticia is trying to put her life back together when her son Tyrell (Coronji Calhoun) is hit by a car and dies. Leticia can only find comfort in the arms of a gruff prison warden named Hank (Billy Bob Thornton), whose own son (Heath Ledger) recently died by suicide. What Leticia doesn't know, however, is that Hank oversaw her husband's execution. It's all very complicated, but handled tactfully and with the utmost sensitivity. "Monster's Ball" is a pretty great film.

Berry won the Oscar for Best Actress for playing Leticia at the 2002 Academy Awards ceremony, beating out Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman, Sissy Spacek, and Renée Zellweger. Her victory was well-deserved.

She...

Barack Obama has shared his favorite movies of the year, continuing what has become an annual list-making tradition from the former President.

“Here are a few movies I’d recommend checking out this year,” Obama wrote in a briefer than usual caption on social media for this year’s list.

The full line-up, listed in no established order by Obama, includes “All We Imagine as Light,” “Conclave,” “The Piano Lesson,” “The Promised Land,” “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” “Dune: Part Two,” “Anora,” “Dìdi (弟弟),” “Sugarcane” and “A Complete Unknown.”

Several titles on the former President’s list have featured heavily in awards conversations, with “Anora,” “Conclave” and the Timothée Chalamet-led duo of “A Complete Unknown” and “Dune: Part Two” being widely projected to land nods in the Oscars’ best picture category. The Tehran-set “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” is also Germany’s official submission for the best international feature film category.

Exclusive: Sing Sing scored a leading four awards from the Black Film Critics Circle today including Best Film of 2024 and Best Actor for Colman Domingo. Wicked star Cynthia Erivo won Best Actress, and RaMell Ross took Best Director for Nickel Boys, which claimed three Bfcc prizes.

Sing Sing also won for Best Ensemble, and its Clarence Maclin scored the Supporting Actor nod. The Greg Kwedar-directed film is based on the true story of John “Divine G” Whitfield (Domingo), who’s imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit but finds purpose by acting in a theater group alongside other incarcerated men.

Nickel Boys, which follows two Black teenagers imprisoned in a harsh, Jim Crow-era Florida reform school, also took the Best Adapted Screenplay — read that script here — and Cinematography races. The Piano Lesson‘s Danielle Deadwyler was named Best Supporting Actress, and Original Screenplay went to The Butalists. See the full winners list below.

James Mangold to Be Honored With Trailblazer Award; Cynthia Erivo to Be Honored With Visionary Award at 2025 Sundance Film Festival Gala Celebrating Sundance Institute Presented by Google TV

December 18, 2024, Park City, Ut — The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today that writer-director-producer James Mangold (Searchlight Pictures’ A Complete Unknown) will be honored with the Trailblazer Award. Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award–winner and two-time Academy Award nominee Cynthia Erivo, currently starring as Elphaba in Universal Pictures’ Wicked, will be honored with the Visionary Award at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival’s gala fundraiser, Celebrating Sundance Institute Presented by Google TV.

As previously announced, the evening will also honor Michelle Satter, Founding Senior Director of Artist Programs at Sundance Institute, for her longstanding commitment to nurturing artists and cultivating independent film through the Sundance Labs, where visionary artists convene to develop groundbreaking projects through an in-depth creative process, for the past four decades. The...

James Mangold and Cynthia Erivo will be honoured at Sundance Film Festival’s gala fundraiser on January 24, 2025.

Mangold, whose latest film A Complete Unknown starring Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan opens in the US through Searchlight on December 25, will receive the Trailblazer Award “in recognition of his unwavering dedication and notable contributions to the field of cinema”.

Mangold’s credits include Walk The Line, Ford v. Ferrari, 3:10 To Yuma,and Logan. The writer-director participated in the Institute’s year-round artist programmes in 1994, where he developed the screenplay for his 1997 film Cop Land at the Sundance Screenwriters and Directors Labs.

Colman Domingo and Kieran Culkin take opposite approaches to their work. Domingo researches every role and sets his alarm for several hours before he’s due on set, which Culkin teases him about. “If I have a 5 a.m. pickup, you know when I wake up?” Culkin says. “5 a.m.” But, as they learn here, their hearts as performers are very much alike. Domingo is one of only a few professional actors in “Sing Sing”; largely, his castmates are formerly incarcerated men who play themselves in a story about an in-prison theater program. He plays their leader, whose self-assured demeanor falls apart as he tries and fails to get his wrongful murder conviction overturned. In “A Real Pain,” Culkin stars as the troubled, childlike Benji, who goes on a Holocaust tour with his cousin, David (writer-director Jesse Eisenberg). As they travel through their late grandmother’s native Poland, David becomes...

Oprah Winfrey is one of the most influential women in the world. After her sensational The Oprah Winfrey Show launched her into fame, Winfrey used her fortune from television to venture into philanthropy. Coming from humble beginnings, she knew that she could help a lot of underprivileged people around the world to get the best opportunities.

Oprah Winfrey in The Oprah Winfrey Show | Credits: Wls-tv Chicago

However, the champion of women and LGBT+ rights has recently found herself in the midst of controversies. Winfrey’s alleged connections to disgraced individuals like Jeffrey Epstein, Harvey Weinstein, and Diddy have called her philanthropic work into question.

Oprah Winfrey’s philanthropy still earns her respect from audiences Oprah Winfrey in The Oprah Winfrey Show | Credits: Harpo Studios

According to Forbes, Oprah Winfrey donated nearly $400 million to educational organizations until 2012. She is one of the top African-American philanthropic individuals in America. According to the data from looktothestars.

“Whatever way our stories end, I know you have rewritten mine by being my friend.”

Universal Pictures has announced that Wicked: Part Two has been given a new title, and will now be known as Wicked: For Good.

As fans of the hit Broadway musical will no doubt be aware, the song “For Good” is the second to last tune in the show, a duet between Elphaba and Glinda.

The first movie is still going strong at the box office after a month on general release. Director Jon M. Chu's critically-acclaimed adaptation remained in second place with $22.5 million from 3,689 venues in its fourth weekend in theaters, and is currently sitting at $359 million domestically and more than $524 million worldwide.

The sequel is also set to release slightly earlier than previously advertised, on November 21, 2025.

You will be changed. Wicked: For Good, only in theaters November 21, 2025.

“It’s always so amazing to have the work be recognized,” shares Kris Bowers about his Golden Globe nomination for his score for “The Wild Robot.” The acknowledgement is especially meaningful for him because “everyone that worked on the film made their art from such a deeply personal place and such a place of love and excitement and curiosity.” “We really created a familial bond making this film,” reflects the composer. His score has since gone on to earn a Critics Choice nomination as well. Watch our complete video interview above.

Bowers was brought onto the animated film early by Universal Pictures because the team “knew that music was going to be such a big character” in the movie. The composer was introduced to the story about the robot Roz through the source material, saying, “I was immediately taken by Peter Brown’s novel because I had just become a dad.

The career of director Steven Spielberg has practically defined modern blockbusters, but he’s also been able to craft more personal films as well. Let’s rank Spielberg’s entire filmography from worst to best in a new photo gallery of his 33 theatrical features.

Spielberg’s reputation as a master entertainer came with the release of “Jaws,” his 1975 shark attack thriller. Made when he was just 29 years old, the film set box office records and made the summer safe for blockbusters again. Such following films as “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977), “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981) and “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” (1982) cemented Spielberg’s ability to create spectacular amusements that brought audiences to their feet.

He later moved into serious filmmaking with “The Color Purple” (1985), which paved the way for his 1993 Holocaust drama “Schindler’s List” (1993). That film swept the Academy Awards, bringing Spielberg Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture.

The entertainment world is no stranger to speculation and intrigue in the personal lives of celebrities, especially after a celebrity suddenly comes into the spotlight. And so has been going on for the 1/2 of the iconic Wicked pairing, Cynthia Erivo, whose impeccable portrayal of Elphaba has made her a global star overnight. While she was already a household name due to her performances in projects like Harriet, The Color Purple, and more, her involvement in the musical film has renewed fans’ interest in her personal life.

Cynthia Erivo | Credit: Instagram / @cynthiaerivo

As one of Hollywood’s most talented figures who has been constantly garnering praise and acclaim, the actress has managed to keep a relatively private life. Yet, the rumors of her relationship with the actress and screenwriter Lena Waithe have been all over the internet. Although both actresses are open about their sexual identity, they have yet to confirm their relationship publically,...

Before “Sing Sing” became a critical hit and awards darling, it almost failed to launch.

The film, which shows the positive impact that the real-life Rehabilitation Through the Arts (Rta) program has on a group of incarcerated men, features Colman Domingo as a playwright incarcerated after being wrongfully convicted of murder. Domingo is one of only three professional actors in the cast, which is otherwise made up alumni of the Rta program.

It’s an ambitious project by any measure, but filmmakers Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar and Monique Walton realized — albeit a little late — that it would be near-impossible without industry support. “We just realized that about a month before we started shooting,” says Kwedar, who directed the film. “I remember having a legitimate panic attack.”

Mere weeks before filming was set to start in the summer of 2022, the team faced a race against the clock to find the right...

Lionel Richie, the guest on this episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, is a legendary singer-songwriter — first with the Commodores, then as a solo artist — as well as a record producer, an American Idol judge and, most recently, a producer and subject of the Netflix documentary about the making of the landmark charity single “We Are the World,” The Greatest Night in Pop. The doc was the most watched English-language film on the streaming service the week it dropped last January, and went on to receive three Emmy nods, including best documentary or nonfiction special. It is now eligible for the best doc feature Oscar and is nominated for the best music film Grammy.

This episode was recorded in Studio A at the former A&m Studios in Hollywood, now known as Henson Studios, where Richie and 45 other A-listers recorded “We are the World” almost exactly 40 years ago,...

At the Tony Awards in June, the past and future of “Wicked” were in the spotlight, with Idina Menzel and Cynthia Erivo — the Elphabas of stage and screen, respectively — presenting the night’s best new musical award to “The Outsiders.” One of those statuettes went to Angelina Jolie, who, with her daughter Vivienne, was among the producers of the Broadway adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s classic 1967 novel. “I know how excited everybody was that you presented the Tony,” Jolie says to Erivo during their Actors on Actors conversation, calling Erivo’s part in the ceremony “the cherry on top, that it would be from you.” Excitement from team “Outsiders” certainly makes sense: For playing Celie in the 2015 Broadway revival of the musical “The Color Purple,” Erivo won a Tony, a Grammy and an Emmy, putting her, in one swoop, just an Oscar short of vaunted Egot status.

Today, though, Jolie...

When it comes to the grand slam of Egot awards, the Grammys are always the most unpredictable. This year is no different, with several races too close to call. Here are the four toughest bets.

SEEWill Shaboozey’s record run on Billboard charts lead to Grammys like it did for ‘Old Town Road’?

Best Pop Vocal Album

You could make a case for each of the nominees here. Ariana Grande would seem to be the odd person out because her “Eternal Sunshine” is the only contender in this category that missed a nod for Album of the Year, but all the “Wicked” hype and its corresponding Oscar campaign could generate more buzz for Grande as an artist. Lady Gaga’s surprise Best Pop Solo Performance win in 2019 for “Joanne,” for example, happened during her big awards push for “A Star Is Born.”

Then there’s Taylor Swift, whose “The Tortured...

The American Society of Cinematographers will honor Oscar-nominated producer and Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy with its 2025 Board of Governors Award at the ASC’s Feb. 23 awards gala in Beverly Hills.

“Kathleen Kennedy’s extraordinary career has left an enduring mark on the world of cinema,” said ASC President Shelly Johnson. “Her keen eye for storytelling is unparalleled. She consistently brings forth projects that elevate and confirm her trust in the director and cinematographer relationship. Recognizing it as the backbone of great filmmaking, her movies consistently showcase this belief. Her dedication to visual excellence has made her a true trailblazer in the film industry.”

The ASC Board of Governors Award recognizes individuals in the industry whose body of work has made significant and indelible contributions to cinema. It is reserved for filmmakers who are champions for directors of photography and the visual art form.

Kennedy is an eight-time Oscar nominee and...

Exclusive: “Unlimited”, Cynthia Erivo sings, “My future is unlimited.” The lyrics from The Wizard and I, a number from the musical Wicked, tumble sweetly, melodically – effortlessly – from her mouth. Such a moment could not have happened 10, 15 or even 20 years ago, because, the star reveals: “I was not ready.”

Erivo, 37, says that she first had to understand life in order to play Elphaba, the young woman with green pigmentation in a world of Caucasians, whose story she recounts breathtakingly in Universal’s movie musical extravaganza Wicked.

Directed by Jon M. Chu, the film is based on Gregory Maguire’s novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, and the long running Broadway show it’s adapted from, with a book by Winnie Holzman and music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. It details the friendship that developed between Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda,...

In the past 96 years of the Academy Awards, there have only been two years in which two Black women were nominated for Best Actress in the same year. That ignominious statistic could very well change for the better this year, as performers Cynthia Erivo (“Wicked”) and Marianne Jean-Baptiste (“Hard Truths”) are both closing in on nominations.

Erivo’s star turn as Elphaba, a role which won the Best Musical Actress trophy at the 2004 Tony Awards for Idina Menzel, currently ranks fifth in our combined Oscar odds. It would mark her second nomination in the category, following her breakout film role as Harriet Tubman in “Harriet” (2019). The actress earned two nominations that year, also receiving recognition for the song “Stand Up,” which she wrote with Joshuah Brian Campbell. The Tony winner for “The Color Purple” currently has 80% of experts and 40% of Gold Derby editors predicting her for the nom.

See Oscar...

The third annual Dances With Films NY festival announced their wins on Dec. 11, celebrating new talent in the world of independent film.

The audience choice winners were Kristen Hansen’s “Sonny Boy” for best narrative feature and Mikaela Shwer’s “The Kids Are Not Alright” for best documentary feature.

This year, the newly established Midnight category spotlighted genre films. The winners in this section were Andrew Bell’s “Bleeding” for best midnight feature and Benedict Chiu’s “Boy Band” for best midnight short. Dances With Films also provides a platform for pilots and proof of concept projects, with the audience winner being Ruthie Marantz’s “Raging Doll.”

For the industry awards, Chris Beier’s “The Ego Death of Queen Cecilia” won in the “Over 40 Minutes” category while Matthew Perkins’ “Fortune” won in the “Under 40 Minutes” category.

Over the course of four days, the festival screened 146 films, including 92 short films, 22 narrative and midnight features,...

Universal Pictures today announced Christmas Day Wicked sing-along screenings as the box-office phenomenon continues its record-shattering theatrical run. More than 1,000 theaters throughout the United States, Canada and select international markets will host interactive Wicked sing-along screenings, which will feature on-screen lyrics and a special introduction from stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.

The announcement arrives as Wicked continues to shatter box-office records, becoming the highest-grossing Broadway musical film adaptation in domestic box-office history, surpassing a benchmark held by Grease for 46 years.

Featuring Grammy and Oscar winning composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz’s songs from the generation-defining stage musical, the film’s groundbreaking soundtrack has made history, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. With more than 270 million global streams, it has achieved the largest streaming week ever for a stage-to-screen musical film soundtrack and stands as the No. 1 soundtrack debut of the decade.

A special sing-along version of the soundtrack...

One of the most respected actors working today is Colman Domingo. His filmography is littered with acclaimed films, such as “Rustin,” “Sing Sing,” and “The Color Purple.” He’s appeared in TV shows such as “Euphoria” and “Fear the Walking Dead.” And now, it seems, he’s begun discussions with Marvel Studios about… something.

Continue reading Colman Domingo Says He’s Met With Marvel But Hasn’t Found The Right Role Yet at The Playlist.

Is Wicked about to become the latest movie to be banned in one of the Gulf States?

After Barbie was banned to protect “public ethics” and for portraying “ideas and beliefs that are alien to Kuwaiti society and public order” last year, Variety is reporting that Universal and director Jon M. Chu's adaptation of the hit Broadway musical has been removed from cinema listings in Kuwait on the eve of its local theatrical release.

No specific reason was provided, but the trade notes that this "is an evolving issue," and sources have speculated that the decision comes down to the fact that the movie features some LGBTQ+ cast members.

Cynthia Erivo, who stars as Elphaba, openly identifies as queer, as do co-stars Jonathan Bailey, Bowen Yang, Marissa Bode and Bronwyn James.

Kuwait has become the strictest of the Gulf states when it comes to film censorship.

Wicked opened in...

Wicked has become a cultural phenomenon. The film adaptation of the Broadway play tells the story of the witches of Oz before Dorothy Gale arrived. Viewers have resonated with Cynthia Erivo’s portrayal of outsider Elphaba Thropp. However, filming one of the film’s most raw, isolating, and painful scenes brought Erivo to tears.

Cynthia Erivo wept as Elphaba was singled out as an outsider

Elphaba Thropp is different than other Shiz University students. Her skin is green due to an elixir her mother drank while pregnant.

Elphaba’s differences are highlighted early in the film, beginning in her childhood. Her isolation escalates when she arrives at Shiz and is singled out by Glinda Arduenna, a popular girl.

The women’s loathing of one another comes to a head before a dance at the Ozdust Ballroom. Glinda gives Elphaba a black witch hat to wear, ridiculing her looks.

Cynthia Erivo...

In the mid-1980s, Whoopi Goldberg exploded onto the entertainment scene via her self-titled, one-woman Broadway show, which was considered so electric and essential that HBO filmed a performance and aired it within a year of its stage premiere. At this point, Goldberg was a force of nature, a comedic dynamo capable of zipping from one deep-tissue character study to another with the ease of Richard Pryor. Meanwhile, her big, brilliant brain seemed to run a mile a minute, like the one possessed by her friend and colleague Robin Williams. Whoopi, it seemed, could do anything. Movie stardom seemed a cinch.

It was. Kind of. After making her dramatic debut in Steven Spielberg's "The Color Purple," she scored a smallish hit with Penny Marshall's comedy thriller "Jumpin' Jack Flash." That led to two more star vehicles in the 1987 duo of "Burglar" and "Fatal Beauty," but they didn't take.

Colman Domingo delivers a modern-day “The Fugitive”-style paranoid thriller with Netflix’s new limited series “The Madness.” The “Rustin” and “Euphoria” star takes on the role of Muncie Daniels, a lauded CNN commentator who finds his spotlight turned against him when he stumbles onto the dead body of a high-profile white supremacist and winds up getting framed for the crime. With mysterious, seemingly ultra-powerful forces aligning against him, Muncie has to uncover the truth behind the convoluted web of money, politics and murder that led him there.

The eight-episode series surrounds Domingo with an ensemble full of familiar actors, so if you’re wondering where you’ve seen them before, here’s a handy guide to the cast and characters of “The Madness.”

Colman Domingo as Muncie Daniels in “The Madness” (Netflix) Colman Domingo as Muncie Daniels

Oscar-nominated actor Colman Domingo plays Muncie Daniels, a high-profile author and CNN...

Cynthia Erivo, the talented actress and singer celebrated for her powerful performances including the most recent portrayal of Elphaba, has found herself at the center of controversy, stemming from her alleged relationship with the Emmy-winning producer and writer Lena Waithe.

Wicked | Credits: Universal Pictures

The two have reportedly been together and recently gained attention due to Waithe’s unwavering support for Erivo’s role in Wicked. However, their relationship has also sparked rumors, including allegations of infidelity involving The Chi creator, which led many to brand the Wicked star as a homewrecker.

Cynthia Erivo’s First Met Lena Waithe at the 2018 Met Gala

Cynthia Erivo’s relationship with Lena Waithe has recently taken center stage amid their numerous appearances together for the Wicked promotional events.

Waithe, an Emmy-winning actress, producer, and writer best known for her work on the drama series The Chi, first crossed paths with Erivo at the 2018 Met Gala,...

Nearly 10 years after Jennifer Hudson and Cynthia Erivo co-starred in the Broadway production of The Color Purple, the powerhouse vocalists sang a soulful duet during a Wednesday episode of the Jennifer Hudson Show. The two musicians riffed off each other as they sang, “What About Love,” a climatic song about a forbidden romance featured at the end of the production’s first act.

Hudson praised Erivo’s breakout performance as Celie in The Color Purple during the Wednesday taping, adding she performed with bravura every night and earned her flowers.

The 'Wicked' press tour has been a rollercoaster ride because of the viral moments involving its cast members, especially Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.MEGACynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande 'Kept Crying' During Their Press TourThe journalist said she was a 'little flustered' after hearing and seeing Cynthia Erivo's response to her query.Mega

In a viral video, reporter Tract E. Gilchrist talked about the Wicked track "Defying Gravity," a song that was also featured in the stage production version of the film in the 2000s.

"I've seen this week, people are taking the lyrics of 'Defying Gravity' and really holding space with that and feeling power in that," Gilchrist said, leaving lead star Cynthia Erivo visibly shocked by the remark.

The Tony-winning star, who put her hand on her chest, answered, "Uh, I didn't know that that was happening."

"I've seen it, yeah," Gilchrist replied, leading...

Cynthia Erivo and Idina Menzel are two of the most iconic voices in Broadway and film, both becoming synonymous with the role of Elphaba in Wicked. As Erivo brings the Wicked Witch of the West back to the big screen, comparisons are inevitable.

Each star has a unique background and career highlights, using their physical talents to make a path in the entertainment industry. Whether you’re a die-hard Wicked fan or just curious about these two extraordinary performers, here’s how they compare.

‘Wicked’ actors Idina Menzel, Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, and Kristin Chenoweth | Photo by Valerie MacOn/Afp via Getty Images Cynthia Erivo and Idina Menzel: Age, height, and Zodiac sign

Cynthia Erivo (born Cynthia Onyedinmanasu Chinasaokwu Erivo) is a British actor and singer originally from Stockwell in South London. Her parents were Nigerian immigrants who also gave birth to Erivo’s sister, Nicolette.

Erivo was born on Jan.

Jon M. Chu’s musical Wicked (Part One), starring Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, is set to defy gravity over the coming weeks as the blockbuster event of the holiday season. Adapted from Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman’s long-running Tony and Grammy Award-winning Broadway musical, itself based on Gregory Maguire’s fantasy novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, Wicked has the kind of built-in fan base most Hollywood musicals can only dream of.

While recent theatrical musical adaptations and originals like West Side Story (2021), The Color Purple (2023), Wonka (2023) and Chu’s In the Heights (2021) had their share of fans, none could compare with the Wicked phenomenon — except for maybe, Cats (2019). Jokes aside, Wicked’s fan base has been maintained and further populated by a plethora of merch, Broadway reunions, album rereleases, a 15th anniversary Halloween TV special and,...

Updated Nov. 30: Broadway musicals adapted to the screen are an erratic genre at the box office, despite Miramax’s multi-Oscar winning Chicago reviving the long-dormant Hollywood genre back in 2002 with $306.8M WW. Yet for every Les Miserables ($442.7M) hit from Universal, there were massive misfires like Dear Evan Hansen and Cats. This weekend, Universal defied the odds with their feature take of the $5 billion-grossing Broadway stage show Wicked, opening to $112.5M domestic, $162.5M worldwide as of Monday morning.

Here’s all the records that Wicked broke in its opening weekend:

The Highest Grossing Movie Ever Based on a Broadway Musical at the Domestic Box Office with $214M and counting as of Nov. 30.

Biggest Global and Domestic Opening for a Movie Based on a Broadway Show, beating the worldwide opening of 2012’s Les Miserables ($103M) and the domestic opening of Disney’s 2014 Into the Woods ($31M).

Biggest Global and Domestic Opening for Ariana Grande ever,...

If you care to find “Wicked,” look to the top of box office charts. Universal’s adaptation of Act One (with some padding) of the popular Broadway musical was No. 1 in North America with $114 million from 3,888 theaters over the weekend.

Those dazzling ticket sales rank as the third biggest domestic debut of the year behind “Deadpool & Wolverine” ($211 million) and “Inside Out 2” ($154 million). Among other benchmarks, “Wicked” landed the fourth-biggest start in history for a musical, ahead of Disney’s recent “The Little Mermaid” remake ($95.5 million) and behind “Frozen II” ($130 million), as well as the best opening (by far) for a Broadway adaptation, overtaking the record held by 2014’s “Into the Woods” ($31 million).

“Wicked” collected an additional $50.2 million at the international box office, bringing its global tally to $164.2 million. It marks the biggest worldwide opening for a film based on a Broadway show, supplanting another Universal musical, “Les Miserables,...

Actresses Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are both starring in the film adaptation of Wicked and have been promoting the project with a press tour. During one such recent interview, Erivo’s response ended up going viral. Fans, and even the reporter who interviewed the actresses, has commented on the meme.

The Press Tour Has Become Known For Being An Emotional One

Erivo first came to prominence after appearing in the Broadway revival of The Color Purple in 2015. She would then transition into films, notably playing Harriet Tubman in the 2019 biopic Harriet.

The actress has gained further recognition playing Elphaba in the film adaptation of Wicked. Based on the Broadway musical and the Gregory Maguire book of the same name, the story explores the early life of the Wicked Witch of the West, who Erivo’s character is set to become, from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Ariana Grande – YouTube...

Though the movie came in slightly under initial $120M domestic estimates, Universal's Wicked still looks set for a very impressive opening weekend at the worldwide box office.

Jon M. Chu's adaptation of the hit Broadway musical took in $117 million from U.S. theaters and $48 million overseas for a global debut of $165 million.

This gives the critically-acclaimed feature the biggest opening weekend for a film based on a Broadway show (ahead of Les Miserables' $103M); the 6th biggest opening weekend of 2024 worldwide; and the 4th biggest global opening weekend ever for a musical (ahead of The Little Mermaid's $163.6M).

Ridley Scott's Gladiator II also opened on Friday (Glicked? Wickiator?), but hasn't performed quite as well with an expected $60 million domestic bow. The sword-and-sandals sequel has been playing overseas since last week, however, and has now passed $131 million across 63 international markets for an estimated $200M+ global haul.

Wicked tells...

Cynthia Erivo won a Grammy, an Emmy, and a Tony all for her work as Celie in the Broadway musical The Color Purple. She did not reprise the role in the recent film adaptation though and now she’s hinting at tension with the movie team.

The actress could have made history as the first person to achieve Egot status through one project if she played Celie in the recent movie musical and won the Oscar.

Cynthia won Best Leading Actress in a Musical at the Tony Awards, Best Musical Theater Album at the Grammy Awards, and Outstanding Musical Performance in a Daytime Program at the Daytime Emmy Awards for performing a number from the show on NBC’s Today.

Fantasia Barrino, who played Celie as a replacement in the original Broadway production of The Color Purple, starred in the recent movie instead.

While appearing on Marc Maron‘s Wtf podcast,...

“Wicked,” part one of the long-awaited screen adaptation of one of Broadway’s longest-running musicals, has a bevy of seasoned experts in the musical genre both in front of and behind the camera. The film is directed by Jon M. Chu, who previously received critical acclaim for his movie version of Lin Manuel-Miranda’s “In the Heights.” Leading the cast as Elphaba is Cynthia Erivo, a Tony winner for “The Color Purple,” while her love interest Fiyero is played by Jonathan Bailey, an Olivier Award winner for a role in a London revival of “Company.” And beyond being one of the biggest pop stars of the last decade, Ariana Grande is a theater kid at heart who got her start in showbusiness in the ensemble of tween musical “13.”

But in two key roles are actors who are probably the most familiar faces for cinephiles and moviegoers — but not ones known for breaking out in tune.

The Wicked musical has been an iconic part of Hollywood and popular culture for many years now. Lives have been changed, and people have been inspired by its positivity, becoming beloved in every definition of the word. Considering how iconic the musical was on stage, it is not surprising that it has also been turned into a musical itself.

Cynthia Erivo in Wicked | Credit: Universal Pictures

Having Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo at the very center of it all, every single news story and update about the musical film has had fans more and more interested in it. With its release just around the corner, its official playlist of songs has just been released, and they could not be more amazing.

A Wicked Collection

The acclaim that the Wicked film has been getting before its release is something to be studied. All the early reviews and initial impressions of the film have been magnificent.

Cynthia Erivo is just one award away from achieving Egot status, but many people will first be introduced to her through the Wicked movie and many will want to know more about her life, including her relationship status.

The 37-year-old actress won a Tony, Grammy and Emmy for her performance in the Broadway musical The Color Purple and she also received two Oscar nominations for her work on the movie Harriet.

Now, Cynthia is expected to get another Oscar nomination for her performance as Elphaba in Wicked Part One.

So, is Cynthia dating anyone or married in real life? We have the scoop on her dating history!

Keep reading to find out more…

Who are Cynthia Erivo’s ex-boyfriends?

Cynthia has two previous boyfriends who she’s talked about before in the media. She dated British theatre actor Dean John-Wilson (pictured above) from 2013 to 2017 and she dated Mario Martinez from...

As of recent years, there has been a correlation with musical performances being recognized in the Best Supporting Actress category at the Oscars, with eight nominated since 2002, and half emerging victorious. This year, we have potentially three actresses from two movie musicals competing for the five slots: Ariana Grande for Universal Pictures’ “Wicked,” and Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez for Netflix’s “Emilia Pérez.” Let’s take a look back at the many scenarios where song-and-dance performers were cited for Best Supporting Actress and what that could mean for this year’s contenders.

There have been a myriad of supporting actresses recognized for film musicals at the Oscars predominantly during the inception of the genre, which include Jean Hagen for “Singin’ In The Rain” (1952), Peggy Wood for “The Sound of Music” (1965), and Kay Medford for “Funny Girl” (1968). But the first victory came for Rita Moreno for “West Side Story” (1961), who...

After “The Good Place,” creator Mike Schur and star Ted Danson are back with another comedy to keep you laughing while tugging on the heartstrings with “A Man on the Inside.” The Netflix series stars Danson as Charles, a retired and widowed man bored with his daily routine who gets the opportunity to reinvent his life when he’s hired by a private investigator to infiltrate a retirement home.

Danson is joined by an ensemble full of familiar faces, from former Schur’s comedy regulars to seasoned character actors. Here’s your handy guide to the cast of “A Man on the Inside” and where you’ve seen them before.

(Netflix) Ted Danson as Charles

“The Good Place” star Ted Danson reunites with series creator Michael Schur for “A Man on the Inside.” Danson plays Charles, a retired professor who is thrilled for a new adventure when he gets the...

Everyone’s favorite felons are back, and this time, they’ve got company.

In the new action-packed chapter from DreamWorks Animation’s acclaimed comedy smash about a crackerjack crew of animal outlaws, our now-reformed Bad Guys are trying to be good, but instead find themselves hijacked into a high-stakes, globe-trotting heist, masterminded by a new team of criminals they never saw coming: The Bad Girls.

The Bad Guys (review) grossed $97.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $153.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $250.4 million.

Based on the New York Times best-selling book series by Aaron Blabey, which has soared from 8 million to over 30 million copies sold since the first film’s release in 2022, The Bad Guys 2 stars the stellar original cast, led by Academy Award® winner Sam Rockwell as Mr. Wolf, SAG award nominee Marc Maron as safe-cracker Mr. Snake, SAG award nominee Craig Robinson as master-of disguise Mr. Shark,...

Following a rather quiet 2024 thanks to last year's Hollywood strikes, 2025 is shaping up to be a much bigger - and busier - year for movies.

Pixar Animation Studios and DreamWorks Animation are among those bring exciting titles into theaters. For now, we'll start with the latter and our first look at the highly anticipated sequel to The Bad Guys, The Bad Guys 2.

In the movie, everyone's favourite felons are back, and this time, they've got company.

In this action-packed chapter from DreamWorks Animation's acclaimed comedy smash about a crackerjack crew of animal outlaws, our now-reformed Bad Guys are trying to be good, but instead find themselves hijacked into a high-stakes, globe-trotting heist, masterminded by a new team of criminals they never saw coming: The Bad Girls.

The Bad Guys 2 stars the stellar original cast, led by Sam Rockwell as Mr. Wolf, Marc Maron as safe-cracker Mr. Snake, Craig Robinson as master-of disguise Mr.

Colman Domingo first met Clarence Maclin on a Zoom call in 2022. Domingo’s slate that year included playing Mister in the remake of The Color Purple and the title role in Rustin, a biopic about Civil Rights activist Bayard Rustin that would earn him an Oscar nomination. Maclin, by contrast, was a decade out from serving his sentence of 15 years in New York’s notorious Sing Sing prison for robbery. “We started talking about the bonds of brotherhood that Shakespeare illuminates,” says Domingo. Shakespeare, they agreed, was key to the film they were about to make together.

Sing Sing, director Greg Kwedar and co-writer Clint Bentley’s prison-set drama — more than eight years in the making — first screened to rave reviews at the Toronto Film Festival in 2023. Now, after a slow build, it is a buzzy Oscar contender. Domingo plays John Whitfield, A.K.A. Divine G, a leading force...

When it came time to choose a name for our first child, my husband and I had a list of one.

A couple of years before her birth, we’d been on an especially good date to see an Agnès Varda film in repertory; the protagonist’s style, wit and ultimate resilience appealed to us as much as Varda’s own story as a pathbreaking woman in the French New Wave did. We’d seen Varda’s documentary “Faces Places” at New York’s Quad Cinema just a week prior to seeing “Cléo From 5 to 7” at the Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn, and, especially in the spring of 2020, the double bill sat lodged in our minds. Cleo D’Addario turned 4 this past May.

I’d always assumed that moviegoing would be a part of Cleo’s story, and the story of our parenting her. I grew up movie mad,...

Universal Pictures has released the official trailer and poster for The Bad Guys 2, which will open in theaters on August 1, 2025. Everyone’s favorite felons are back in the sequel, and this time, they’ve got company.

In the new action-packed chapter from DreamWorks Animation’s acclaimed comedy smash about a crackerjack crew of animal outlaws, our now-reformed Bad Guys are trying to be good but instead find themselves hijacked into a high-stakes, globe-trotting heist, masterminded by a new team of criminals they never saw coming: The Bad Girls.

The franchise is based on the New York Times best-selling book series by Aaron Blabey, which has soared from 8 million to over 30 million copies sold since the first film’s release in 2022.

The Bad Guys 2 stars Academy Award winner Sam Rockwell as Mr. Wolf, SAG award nominee Marc Maron as safe-cracker Mr. Snake, SAG award nominee Craig Robinson as master-of-disguise Mr. Shark,...