‘Wicked Part Two’ has its theatrical release pushed up to Thanksgiving 2025

universal images’ Evil movies, based on the hugely popular Broadway musical, are trying to become a Thanksgiving tradition.

Director Jon M. Chu and the film’s stars, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, revealed on their respective social media feeds on Tuesday that Evil second part is moving the theatrical release date from December 25, 2025 to November 26, 2025, a Wednesday.

The film is no surprise. In March, Universal and the filmmakers were also up Evil part one from 25 December 2024 to 27 November 2024.

Insiders say opening during Thanksgiving gives the event’s films more time to build audiences over the holiday season and is also beneficial from a consumer product perspective.

The stellar cast also includes Michelle Yeoh – who made history earlier this year by winning the Best Actress Oscar – Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey and Ethan Slater.

THE Evil movies, based on the best-selling novel by Gregory Maguire, is adapted for the screen by the stage production’s book writer Winnie Holzman and Academy Award-winning composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz. The Broadway stage musical is produced by Universal Stage Productions.

“Evil it’s such a proud part of our heritage,” Universal motion picture chief Donna Langley told theater owners at CinemaCon in late April, noting that the musical just became the fourth longest-running in Broadway history. “They’re creating a whole world that I know will dazzle your screens.” Footage from the film was one of the highlights of the annual exhibitor convention.

Evilthe untold story of the witches of Oz stars Erivo as Elphaba, an outcast rebel who has yet to discover her true power, and Grande as Glinda, a popular young woman, gilded with privilege and ambition, who must yet to discover her sincere heart.

As the two women forge an unlikely sisterhood, they will strengthen each other in ways neither foresees. But as the dark forces of prejudice and oppression loom on the horizon, the choices they make will set them apart and set them on different destinies that will change them, and Oz, forever.