Yahoo Finance Michelle Yeoh Joins Cast of Wicked Movies as Madame Morrible
Araya Doheny/FilmMagic Michelle Yeoh
Michelle Yeoh is headed to the land of Oz!
On Thursday, Variety reported that Yeoh, 60, has joined the Jon M. Chu-directed musical adaptation as Madame Morrible, the headmistress of Crage Hall at Shiz University who teaches Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) how to use her magical powers.
The Everything Everywhere All At Once star — who was named TIME magazine's Icon of the Year Tuesday — will reunite with director Chu, with whom she worked on 2018's Crazy Rich Asians, for the role in the upcoming two-part musical adaptation.
Yeoh joins a star-studded cast that includes Erivo, 35, and Ariana Grande, 29, who were cast as the leads, Elphaba and Glinda, in November 2021.
In September 2022, Chu confirmed that Bridgerton star Jonathan Bailey is joining the cast as Fiyero, the main love interest in the musical. In October, Variety reported that Jeff Goldblum was in final talks to play the Wizard, but the outlet noted Thursday that a deal has not yet been signed, citing sources.
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Emma McIntyre/WireImage
The outlet also reported Thursday that Broadway actor Ethan Slater (SpongeBob Squarepants: The Musical) is set to join Wicked's cast as Boq.
The adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway show — which is based on the 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire — will differ slightly from the stage version, but Chu, 42, has promised to stay true to the heart of the story.
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Chu himself revealed that the story will be told across two films that bring "even more depth and surprise" to the famous Broadway musical's story in April in a letter he shared on social media.
"As we prepared this production over the last year, it became increasingly clear that it would be impossible to wrestle the story of Wicked into a single film without doing some real damage to it," Chu wrote at the time. "As we tried to cut songs or trim characters, those decisions began to feel like fatal compromises to the source material that has entertained us all for so many years."
RELATED VIDEO: Idina Menzel Congratulates Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo on Wicked Casting News: "So Much Love"
Wicked debuted on Broadway in October 2003 with Idina Menzel, Kristin Chenoweth and Joel Grey as the original cast members playing Elphaba, Glinda and the Wizard, respectively.
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The book/musical tells the story of Elphaba's life prior to becoming known as the Wicked Witch of the West from L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (which was later adapted into the classic 1939 film starring Judy Garland).
The original Broadway production won three Tony Awards and six Drama Desk Awards, as well as a Grammy Award.
Wicked Part 1 is scheduled to hit theaters Dec. 25, 2024, with the sequel expected to release exactly one year later.
