Here’s something that hasn’t been done with a musical before: Universal will release its feature take on the smash Broadway musical Wicked in two parts on December 25, 2024 and December 25, 2025. It’s a bold swing for a musical, which of late have been risky onscreen. However, this one is based on a legacy crowd-pleaser.

Jon M. Chu is directing the untold story of the Witches of Oz, starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo. The pic is based on the bestselling novel by Gregory Maguire and adapted for the screen by the stage production’s book writer Winne Holzman and Oscar-winning composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz.

Typically those movies getting broken into two parts have been blockbuster YA films based on books, i.e. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and The Hunger Games:Mockingjay. While those were huge blockbuster successes, the plan faltered with Lionsgate’s third Divergent movie, Allegiant which tanked at the box office with $66M domestic and $179M WW. The second half of that Shailene Woodley movie was never made given how that pic fell apart, but the situation there was that the third Veronica Roth Divergent novel divided fans greatly. Knock on wood, but working to Wicked’s advantage is that it’s a near $3 billion grossing Broadway musical, seen by over 30M people worldwide.

Michelle Yeoh has joined the star-studded cast of Jon M. Chu’s “Wicked” movies, Variety can exclusively reveal.

The “Everything Everywhere All At Once” star will play Madame Morrible, the headmistress of Crage Hall at Shiz University.

Chu’s two-part feature adaptation is headlined by Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba. The Universal Pictures films are set for release on Christmas in 2024 and 2025.

“Wicked” is a prequel to “The Wizard of Oz,” telling the story of how Elphaba turned into the Wicked Witch of the West and how Glinda became the Good Witch.

“We decided to give ourselves a bigger canvas and make not just one ‘Wicked’ movie but two,” Chu wrote in a statement when the studio announced the adaptation would come in two parts. “With more space, we can tell the story of ‘Wicked’ as it was meant to be told while bringing even more depth and surprise to the journeys for these beloved characters.”

Variety also exclusively reported that “Bridgerton” star Jonathan Bailey will play Fiyero and Broadway veteran Ethan Slater, who scored a Tony nomination for “SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical,” will take on the role of Boq.

Jeff Goldblum continues to be in talks to play the Wizard, but a final deal has not been signed, according to sources.

While walking the red carpet at the Los Angeles premiere of Disney’s new “Pinocchio” in September, Erivo shared what it’s been like working with Grande.

“I love her, truly,” the Tony winner gushed. “She is funny and unbelievably talented and unbelievably sweet and truly working hard. We’re both working really hard together. I’m excited for both of us.”

Reps for Yeoh and Universal did not comment.