Jonathan Bailey is looking to the Western sky — the Bridgerton star is currently in talks to join the feature film adaptation of ‘Wicked’.
Variety reports that, if negotiations work out, Bailey will play the part of Fiyero(ooooo!) in Jon M. Chu’s two-part movie adaptation of the popular Wizard of Oz prequel musical.
He will dance through life star in the films opposite Ariana Grande, who is playing Glinda, and Cynthia Erivo, who is portraying Elphaba.
Representatives for Bailey did not immediately respond to EW’s request for comment.
“As we prepared the production over the last year, it became impossible to wrestle the story of Wicked into a single film without doing some real damage to it,” Chu, who is directing both movies, previously said of the decision to split the adaptation into two parts. “As we tried to cut songs or trim characters, those decisions began to feel like fatal compromises to the source material that has entertained us all for so many years. We decided to give ourselves a bigger canvas and make not just one Wicked movie but two! With more space, we can tell the story of Wicked as it was meant to be told while bringing even more depth and surprise to the journeys for these beloved characters.”
The screenplay for the adaptation comes from Stephen Schwartz, who wrote the music and lyrics to the original Broadway musical, and Winnie Holzman, with Marc Platt and David Stone as producers.
Along with taking on the main role in Bridgerton season 2, Bailey recently starred in a West End production of Mike Bartlett’s play Cock, and his performance in Company won him a Laurence Olivier Award in 2019.
He’s been working steadily in theater and on TV since the mid-90’s, but is best known for his work on Bridgerton, Crashing, and Chewing Gum. He’ll be seen next as Matt Bomer’s love interest in Showtime’s Fellow Travelers adaption.
The Wicked movies are set for Christmas releases in 2024 and 2025.
Related Post: Universal announces ‘Wicked’ will be split into two parts, Broadway musical hits the big screen.
Related Post: Jeff Goldblum in talks to join ‘Wicked’ based on hit musical.
