'Wicked' movie gets a 2019 release date

The long-anticipated Wicked movie is finally taking flight.

Universal Pictures has announced that it will release the film adaptation of the Tony-winning musical on Dec. 20, 2019, once again bringing the witches of Oz to the big screen.

Billy Elliot director Stephen Daldry is shepherding Wicked to theaters with producer Marc Platt. Composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz and book writer Winnie Holzman adapted the musical from Gregory Maguire’s bestselling novel of the same name, and the pair will also write the film’s screenplay.

There’s no casting info yet, but Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth originated the roles of Elphaba and Glinda on Broadway, both earning Tony nominations in 2004. (Menzel beat out Chenoweth for best actress in a musical.) In all, Wicked has earned 10 Tony Award nominations and three wins, becoming the fastest Broadway musical in history to earn more than $1 billion.

In April, Menzel weighed in on whether she’d once again defy gravity as the future Wicked Witch of the West on the big screen, telling audiences at the Tribeca Film Festival that it was unlikely.

“I’m gonna be way too old by the time [Platt] gets it done,” Menzel said. “Unless he CGI’s it, and he knows how I feel about that — I really want him to do that.”

Earlier this year, Menzel and Chenoweth reunited to perform the musical’s iconic duet “For Good,” performing together for the first time since the 2004 Tonys.