Wicked: Ariana Grande reportedly earned millions more than co-star Cynthia Erivo

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo have double billing for the Wicked movie – but one was paid many, many times more than the other.

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo both earn top billing the hit movie musical Wicked – but it seems they got paid very different salaries for their respective roles of Glinda the Good Witch and Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West.

Multiple outlets have reported that Grande, making her lead role film debut, was paid US$15 million ($25.8m) for her role in the movie - 15 times as much as Erivo’s rumoured paycheque of US$1 million (($1.72m).

As anyone who saw the wild scenes at Wicked’s world premiere in Sydney earlier this month will attest, Grande brings a built-in fanbase from her hugely successful decade-long music career that the film’s producers no doubt thought was worth the extra investment.

But perhaps more surprising is that several supporting cast members reportedly also earned bigger paycheques than Erivo for their smaller roles: Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum were rumoured to have been paid US$2 million ($3.44m) each to play Madame Morrible and the Wizard of Oz respectively.

Another of the film’s key supporting cast members, British actor Jonathan Bailey, is reported to have been paid US$450,000 ($772m) to play love interest Fiyero.

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo attend the "Journey Through Oz" Tour to celebrate the Australian premiere of "Wicked" at State Theatre on November 3, 2024 in Sydney, Australia. Photo / Getty Images

Wicked is already a confirmed box office smash, raking in more than $10.3 million in Australia during its first five days in cinemas. In the US, it has scored the biggest box office debut for a musical adaptation in history: US$114 million ($196.08m) in its opening weekend.

Among the adulation, Wicked director Jon M. Chu has hit back at one common complaint of the new film, after an interviewer queried the “desaturated” colour palette of his version of Oz.

Some have complained about the somewhat muted colours on show in the movie, particularly compared to the technicolour palette of 1939’s original The Wizard of Oz film.

In a new interview for The Globe and Mail, journalist Radheyan Simonpillai asks Chu about the “aesthetic” of the film, noting that “Wicked is a little desaturated” compared to the “glorious technicolour” of The Wizard of Oz.

Chu didn’t necessarily agree with that observation.

“I mean, there’s colour all over it. I think what we wanted to do was immerse people into Oz, to make it a real place. Because if it was a fake place, if it was a dream in someone’s mind, then the real relationships and the stakes that these two girls are going through wouldn’t feel real,” he said.

However, Chu’s explanation has been met with opposition from some who’ve watched the film.

One person on X called it an “absolute nothing-burger response,” insisting that “the film needs to be much more colourful in part two.”

The second Wicked film, which will cover act two of the original Broadway musical, is due out at the same time next year.