The Making of a Cultural Event: Wicked’s Two-Part Marketing Roll Out Paid Off

You’d have to have been somewhere over the rainbow to have missed the last two years of Wicked hype. The franchise has been inescapable and with the second film currently in theatres, it appears this approach paid off big time.

The buzz started years ago when it was confirmed Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo were stepping into the roles of the two most beloved witches on Broadway.

With an existing fanbase in place — the stage production of Wicked has raked in $5 billion worldwide since it opened in 2003 — it wasn’t a hard sell for musical lovers. But getting the non-theatre kids on board was going to be the challenge for the film’s marketing team.

For the first movie, the promotion was as in your face as possible. The first trailer dropped during the Super Bowl, nearly 10 months before the movie’s release. What followed was an inundation of collaborations — more than 400 brands partnered with the franchise for the first film. This was a massive investment; in comparison, previous marketing juggernaut Barbie had only 150 brand partnerships. It’s estimated that the marketing alone cost $150 million for part one of Wicked.

The film’s leading ladies committed to wearing their characters’ signature colours throughout their press tour. Grocery store products, from dish soap to boxed mac n’ cheese, had Wicked branding. Even the Arc de Triomphe in Paris was lit up pink and green in celebration of the film’s release.

By the time the film opened in late 2024, Wicked had already become a cultural event.

For part two, the marketing team rode the wave of brand recognition all the way to the finish line. With only a one-year turn around between the two films, the hype surrounding the first release was still at the forefront. With multiple Oscar nominations and a performance from Grande and Erivo at the award show in March, the fanfare continued well into early 2025.

The marketing roll out for the second instalment began later in the year — it wasn’t until the summer that the Wicked: For Good trailer was released.

The marketing was also more subtle this time around. The cast did fewer press junkets and interviews, prioritizing high-viewership options like late-night talk shows and legacy media outlets. The promotional cost for the second film is estimated to be under $100 million, a slightly more prudent budget.

Some promotional approaches for the second film could only happen thanks to the success of part one. A special one-night-only TV event, “Wicked: One Wonderful Night,” offered delightful fan service, reflecting on the first movie and looking forward to the second’s impending release with live performances, exclusive interviews, and behind-the-scenes footage.

It even brought in the original Elphaba and Glinda, with Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth performing with Erivo and Grande, tying together the twenty-year franchise. Few films could offer the same promotional special.

For those who feared that audiences would grow tired of two years of pink and green, the box office success of both films prove that the multi-million-dollar marketing gamble paid off in spades.

Despite uneven reception from critics, the film has blown its previous record out of the water — and revived box offices that had been flatlining for months.

Over its first weekend, Wicked: For Good brought in $226 million globally, quashing its previous opening-weekend record of $162 million globally. The first film scored $756 million globally during its theatrical run; with its strong opening numbers, Wicked: For Good could meet or surpass this achievement.

The success of the two films — both broke records for Broadway-to-film productions and became the movie event for both 2024 and 2025 — is proof that there’s a huge market for films geared towards musical lovers and women alike.

Universal took a gamble with the high upfront investment in the franchise, especially as musical films floundered at the box offices over the last decade. But the special alchemy of Wicked, from its recognizable IP to its core story of female friendship, was a promotional treasure trove just waiting to be tapped into.

FEATURE IMAGE: GLINDA (ARIANA GRANDE) & ELPHABA (CYNTHIA ERIVO) IN “WICKED: FOR GOOD.” COURTESY OF UNIVERSAL PICTURES.

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