Throughout the years a number of movie musicals have won Oscars for Best Picture. The genre is tried and true, with the recent addition of Jon M. Chu's Wicked being an Oscar-nominated sucess. The sequel For Good will be here next month, and the soundtrack list was recently revealed, including the titles of two new songs that'll debut. It also confirmed that another beloved song that was missing from the Broadway soundtrack is finally getting its first recording. Let's break it all down.
What fans know about Wicked: For Good depends on how much they like musical theater. Broadway fans know exactly what's going to happen in the sequel, and how it'll connect to The Wizard Of Oz. Except for the two new tracks, which have been revealed to be titled "No Place Like Home" and "The Girl in The Bubble", meant to be sung by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande respectively. The announcement also confirmed that "The Wicked Witch of The East" is in the movie and soundtrack, marking the first time Nessa's big number is given a proper recording. Check it out below:
If you can hear anything beside this first tease of "Thank Goodness", you might also hear the sounds of Wicked fans out there collectively cheering. It's thrilling to get this tease about what the new tracks will be about, as well as the confirmation that "The Wicked Witch of The East" will finally get to be immortalized.
The upcoming introduction of "No Place Like Home" and "The Girl in the Bubble" will not only offer the chance for Wicked: For Good to get nominated for Best Original Song, they'll also offer new looks at the psyche of Elphaba and Glinda respectively. Splitting Wicked into two movies opened the door for more storytelling possibilities, and made sure that none of the original songs got left on the cutting room floor.
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The first Wicked movie, which is streaming with an Amazon Prime subscription) showed its cast of characters at Shiz University, but For Good is expected to greatly expand its narrative. There's a time jump, allowing for each of them to greatly change. That includes Marisa Boden's Nessarose, who will get the chance to take center stage with her own song. It's been teased that this scene would be changed a bit from the stage version, and I can't wait to see how.
"The Wicked Witch of the East" has always been one of my favorite Wicked songs, perhaps for its elusiveness. Since it's not included on the Original Broadway Cast Recording, presumably due to its spoilery contents, fans had to watch grainy (and illegal) videos of the stage musical to watch Nessa and Boq's biggest solos in the show's second act. I'm so hyped to be able to listen to that particular track anytime I want once the For Good soundtrack is released.
Given Wicked's box office performance and various Awards Season nominations, all eyes are on if the sequel will be similarly successful. But since they were filmed at the same time, there is a ton of good will with moviegoers.
All will be revealed when Wicked: For Good hits theaters on November 21st as part of the 2025 movie release list. Until then I'll just have to re-listen to the first movie's soundtrack as I (not so) patiently wait for the sequel's.