Ariana Grande SaysWicked: For GoodIs 'Quite Different' from First Movie: It's 'About Consequences'

Mar. 15, 2025

Ariana Grande on Feb. 9, 2025.Photo:Rebecca Sapp/Getty

Rebecca Sapp/Getty

Ariana Grandeis promising a different moviegoing experience in Oz withWicked: For Good.Grande, 31, appeared at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Sunday, Feb. 9, where she told an audience during a moderated conversation with Dave Karger that the follow up to 2024’sWicked: Part Onewill have a different feel when fans see her character Glinda and Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) on the big screen again.“Well, it’s very special. It’s very emotional,” Grande said, when asked to tease out what audiences can expect from the secondWickedmovie. “I think the second movie really embodies unconditional love and forgiveness and friendship. And you’ll have to wait and see, but it is quite different.““And you get to see people reap the… bear the repercussions for their choices that they make in movie one,” she added. “So if movie one is about choices, movie two is about consequences.“Jon M. Chu, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande on the set of Wicked.Giles Keyte/Universal PicturesWicked: Part Oneends with the show-stopping number “Defying Gravity” as Erivo’s character Elphaba and Grande’s Glinda part ways; the second half of the movie will cover Act 2 of the famous Broadway musical. The two-part film’s directorJon M. Churecently told reporters, “If you love those two women, wait until you see where their relationship goes,” of Glinda and Elphaba’s journey following his best director win at the Critics Choice Awards on Friday, Feb. 7.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.“Wait until you see the heights that they can hit if you felt it in movie one and the places that we can go,” he said. “Oz is bigger, it’s more expansive, and in the time that we’re living in, it speaks so directly to the moment and to the courage and the consequences it takes to some of the choices that we have to make and who you choose to become when you know the truth.“Ariana Grande on Feb. 9, 2025.Chelsea Guglielmino/FilmMagicGrande and Erivo have received considerable praise and recognition for their performances inWickedthis awards season; both women are nominated at the upcomingSAG Awardson Sunday, Feb. 23 and for Academy Awards at the 97th Oscars on Sunday, March 2.“We were sobbing and sending each other voice notes. She was on the plane and I was in London,” Grande said of her and Erivo’s reactions to theirOscar nominationson stage in Santa Barbara, California. “We were both working and we were just sharing our gratitude and texting each other like crazy people like we usually do.“Wicked: For Goodreleases Nov. 21.

Ariana Grandeis promising a different moviegoing experience in Oz withWicked: For Good.

Grande, 31, appeared at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Sunday, Feb. 9, where she told an audience during a moderated conversation with Dave Karger that the follow up to 2024’sWicked: Part Onewill have a different feel when fans see her character Glinda and Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) on the big screen again.

“Well, it’s very special. It’s very emotional,” Grande said, when asked to tease out what audiences can expect from the secondWickedmovie. “I think the second movie really embodies unconditional love and forgiveness and friendship. And you’ll have to wait and see, but it is quite different.”

“And you get to see people reap the… bear the repercussions for their choices that they make in movie one,” she added. “So if movie one is about choices, movie two is about consequences.”

Jon M. Chu, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande on the set of Wicked.Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures

Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures

Wicked: Part Oneends with the show-stopping number “Defying Gravity” as Erivo’s character Elphaba and Grande’s Glinda part ways; the second half of the movie will cover Act 2 of the famous Broadway musical. The two-part film’s directorJon M. Churecently told reporters, “If you love those two women, wait until you see where their relationship goes,” of Glinda and Elphaba’s journey following his best director win at the Critics Choice Awards on Friday, Feb. 7.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“Wait until you see the heights that they can hit if you felt it in movie one and the places that we can go,” he said. “Oz is bigger, it’s more expansive, and in the time that we’re living in, it speaks so directly to the moment and to the courage and the consequences it takes to some of the choices that we have to make and who you choose to become when you know the truth.”

Ariana Grande on Feb. 9, 2025.Chelsea Guglielmino/FilmMagic

Chelsea Guglielmino/FilmMagic

Grande and Erivo have received considerable praise and recognition for their performances inWickedthis awards season; both women are nominated at the upcomingSAG Awardson Sunday, Feb. 23 and for Academy Awards at the 97th Oscars on Sunday, March 2.

“We were sobbing and sending each other voice notes. She was on the plane and I was in London,” Grande said of her and Erivo’s reactions to theirOscar nominationson stage in Santa Barbara, California. “We were both working and we were just sharing our gratitude and texting each other like crazy people like we usually do.”

Wicked: For Goodreleases Nov. 21.

source: people.com