From the discharge date to new music, here is what you possibly can count on from the upcoming sequel.
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in “Depraved”
Giles Keyte/Common Photos
After greater than twenty years as one in all Broadway followers’ most beloved musicals, Depraved lastly received the live-action movie therapy final yr — however the journey down the Yellow Brick Highway is simply midway full.
Starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande because the challenge’s iconic main girls — Elphaba and Glinda, respectfully — Jon M. Chu’s Depraved Half 1 lastly hit theaters after about three years of manufacturing and promotional buildup on Nov. 22, 2024, bringing in historic box-office numbers and changing into the top-grossing film based mostly on a Broadway musical on file. Its soundtrack of contemporary takes on Stephen Schwartz’s authentic 2003 stage rating debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, the highest-ever opening for a stage-to-screen adaptation.
After seeing the primary installment, nonetheless, followers had been instantly impatient for extra. Nonetheless half of the Ozian story — impressed by Gregory Maguire’s Depraved novel in regards to the origin tales of the Depraved Witch of the West and Glinda the Good — remained to be instructed in Half 2, which Common Photos introduced in December 2024 would officially be titled Depraved: For Good. Fortunately, the sequel is poised to be effectively well worth the wait; when Chu first announced that the variation could be cut up into two elements in April 2022, the director wrote on X, “With more room, we are able to inform the story of Depraved because it was meant to be instructed whereas bringing much more depth and shock to the journeys of those beloved characters.”
Although a lot of Half 2 has been saved below wraps, Common Photos and Chu — in addition to Grande, Erivo and Schwartz — have divulged a handful of valuable particulars in regards to the finale for followers to pore over as they await premiere day. From its launch date to additions to the soundtrack, preserve studying to see every little thing Billboard is aware of about Depraved: For Good.
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The Launch Date
Depraved: For Good will hit theaters Nov. 21, 2025, simply at some point shy of the one-year anniversary of Half 1.
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The Primary Plot
Those that have seen the Depraved stage musical are already accustomed to the important plot of its second half, which — spoiler alert to those that haven’t! — finds Elphaba changing into increasingly more misunderstood by the individuals of Oz as she continues her battle for animal rights. In the meantime, Glinda is propped up as a mouthpiece for the Wizard and Madame Morrible’s regime, whereas Fiyero reconnects with Elphaba and the 2 lastly make their romantic emotions for each other identified.
All of it builds up towards an emotional, sophisticated reunion between the 2 witches, which matches down shortly earlier than a sure Kansan lady throws a fateful bucket of water on one in all them. Although Chu is predicted so as to add loads of model new scenes to the movie, its fundamental storyline is bound to observe the one specified by the unique Broadway manufacturing.
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It’s Darker Than Half 1
Very like within the second act of the Broadway present, the second a part of the Depraved movies descends into darker and twistier territory than the primary. “It will get messy,” Chu stated to Variety in January. “I believe if [audience members] are following the feelings of this film, they’ll stroll with us.”
Whereas a lot of Half 1 leaned into the buoyant enjoyable of life at Shiz and new friendships, Half 2 is extra in regards to the social and political turmoil set into movement by Glinda’s determination to remain and Elphaba’s determination to go in the course of the first movie’s last quantity, “Defying Gravity.” Because the director defined it to Entertainment Weekly: “If Half 1 is about selections, Half 2 is about penalties.”
“Decisions are troublesome to make, however whenever you do make these selections, typically the outcome isn’t what you count on it to be,” he added in November 2024. “It may be lonely, it may be onerous.”
Even so, Chu promised that there will likely be “a lot of lightness” within the second film. “There’s numerous enjoyable elements,” he stated. “We’ve not forgotten about that, however there’s a matureness and a nuance to it that we earn from the primary film.”
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The Soundtrack Options Model New Songs
Although the Half 2 soundtrack is bound to characteristic the solid’s renditions of the entire music within the authentic Broadway musical — together with showstoppers like “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished” and the tear-jerking Elphaba-Glinda duet “For Good” — Schwartz has confirmed that followers can even be handled to 2 solely new songs specifically written for the flicks.
“The storytelling required it, and subsequently they had been created,” he instructed The Messenger in December 2024 of the brand new tracks. “The intention was that they had been natural and never imposed on the film.”
Later, Erivo hinted that one of many new songs — which will likely be sung by Elphaba — will pack an emotional punch. “I don’t know should you’re prepared for it,” she said on Selection‘s Awards Circuit podcast. “I really feel just like the music may be very, very particular. I’ve a sense that even the title will transfer you.”
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It Goes Extra ‘In Depth’ on Elphaba & Glinda’s Relationship
Simply as they did by Half 1, viewers will get to see extra of Elphaba and Glinda than they did within the stage musical because of the movie format. So far as Half 2 goes, meaning followers will see a extra in-depth exploration of the 2 ladies’s complicated relationship, with Grande even teasing that there could also be some romantic stress.
“I believe [Glinda] is an individual who loves a lot, and I do assume that it goes past gender,” the “7 Rings” singer instructed Variety in December 2024. “I additionally assume that the methods by which she loves Elphaba a lot, and that forgiveness and that unconditional love that they share — I believe they’re in love with one another. I do know, sure, it’s platonic … However we’ll discuss it extra in depth in film two.”
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The ‘For Good’ Sequence Is ‘A Lot’
Whereas talking to Variety, Grande and Erivo additionally teased one of many largest musical sequences Depraved: For Good will supply. Trace: it’s the quantity that impressed the sequel’s title.
“The scene that leads as much as [‘For Good’] — and afterwards — is kind of a meal,” Grande instructed the publication. “I do bear in mind, at a degree, leaving my physique and hovering for, like, the entire week.”
“That was …,” Erivo added. “That was so much.”
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Dorothy’s ‘Presence Is Vital’
Viewers solely received to see the briefest flash of Dorothy Gale in Depraved Half 1, with the primary jiffy of the movie that includes a clip of the pigtailed, blue-gingham-clad heroine strolling down Oz’s iconic Yellow Brick Highway alongside Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion. Even then, she was solely seen from behind.
However whereas talking to Screen Rant in November 2024, Chu hinted that Dorothy can have a a lot larger half to play in Depraved: For Good. “I gained’t discuss an excessive amount of about what we present or don’t present in film 2,” he stated on the time. “However in film 1, it was necessary to let Dorothy be the way you need her to be. I didn’t need to step in your pictures of no matter model of Dorothy you wished her to be.”
“However [Dorothy’s] presence is necessary, as a result of that performs a big function in what is going to occur and the way they intersect,” he continued. “That was type of how we performed with it. However you’ll must see film 2 to know the way far we go together with her.”
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The Trailer Launch Date & Film Poster
After retaining followers ready for months, Common lastly revealed on Could 14 when the Depraved: For Good trailer could be dropping: June 4, premiering in theaters as the primary movie returned to the large display screen for one evening solely.
That very same day, the sequel’s official poster was additionally unveiled, displaying Erivo and Grande of their Act II outfits.