Studio Boss Hints at Wicked Universe Expansion as Third Film Speculation Grows

Speculation about a third Wicked film is refusing to die down, and now one of the most powerful figures behind the franchise has offered the clearest indication yet that audiences may not have taken their final trip to Oz.

Following the release of Wicked: For Good last year, rumours have swirled that Universal could be looking to further expand the cinematic universe inspired by the hit Broadway musical. While nothing has been formally announced, senior executives have confirmed that conversations are underway.

Donna Langley, Chair of NBCUniversal Entertainment, recently addressed the chatter, suggesting that the studio is actively considering how the world of Oz might continue on screen.

“It’s very early days on Wicked but we are hopeful that after the amazing success that we’ve seen with the two movies, there are other ways that we could branch out with the world-building,” Langley told Variety.

Her comments follow an extraordinary run for the franchise. When the first Wicked film was released in 2024, it quickly became a global phenomenon, grossing nearly £600 million worldwide and earning ten Academy Award nominations. The sequel, Wicked: For Good, arrived a year later. While critical response was more mixed and the film missed out at the Oscars, it still delivered a formidable £390 million at the global box office.

Those figures alone make it unsurprising that Universal would be exploring future instalments.

Langley also confirmed that any expansion would be developed carefully and in consultation with the franchise’s rights holders. “We are discussing future franchise plans with our rights holders and in conjunction with them,” she said, emphasising that the studio would only move forward with stories and characters to which they already hold the appropriate rights.

The suggestion is not necessarily that a direct third film is imminent. Instead, the language around “world-building” points toward spin-offs or adjacent stories set within the broader Oz mythology.

That possibility is further fuelled by comments from the original stage musical’s creative team. Composer Stephen Schwartz, the three-time Oscar winner behind the stage score and its big-screen adaptations, has been teasing future projects for some time.

In November 2024, Schwartz told YouTuber Ryan Jay that a new project set in the same universe was “under wraps”, though he declined to provide further details.

More recently, in an interview with The Ankler, Schwartz offered a little more insight. “Winnie Holzman and I are doing some work right now on ideas that aren’t a sequel to Wicked – because I think the Glinda and Elphaba story feels complete – but there are other aspects that could be explored,” he explained.

“But there’s another idea that Winnie and I are discussing: not a sequel, but an adjunct. Let me put it that way.”

The wording is telling. Rather than revisiting the emotional arc of Glinda and Elphaba, which many fans consider fully resolved, Schwartz appears interested in expanding the mythology sideways, exploring new characters or unexplored corners of Oz.

The cinematic franchise is, of course, based on the long-running stage musical Wicked, itself adapted from Gregory Maguire’s novel. Maguire’s literary universe stretches far beyond the events covered in the musical.

His second novel in the series takes place a decade after the events of Wicked and centres on Elphaba and Fiyero’s son, offering a potential narrative pathway for a continuation that does not disrupt the completed arcs of the original protagonists. The book series also includes A Lion Among Men and Out of Oz, along with prequels exploring the childhoods of Elphaba and Glinda.

While the events of Maguire’s novels diverge in significant ways from the stage musical’s storyline, they provide ample material should Universal choose to mine them for future adaptations.

For now, the message from the studio is measured but optimistic. There is no official green light for a third film. However, given the financial success of the first two instalments and the enduring popularity of the property across stage and screen, the door to Oz appears very much open.

If future projects do emerge, they are likely to focus less on repeating what audiences have already seen and more on expanding the mythos in new directions. Whether that means a spin-off centred on another character, an adaptation of Maguire’s later novels, or an entirely original story set within the world, one thing seems clear. Universal is not ready to say goodbye to Oz just yet.

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