Ahead of its release in movie theaters worldwide on November 22, fans can get a special behind-the-scenes look at Wicked with an all-new NBC special, Defying Gravity: The Curtain Rises on Wicked, which airs on the network tonight, Tuesday, November 19, at 10 pm ET/PT.
The adaptation of the immensely popular Broadway musical, Wicked is one of the most anticipated new movies of 2024. Defying Gravity is here to add to the proceedings, as it features the stars of the Wicked cast — Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang and Marissa Bode — discussing their memories and secrets from the making of the movie on the set of the Emerald City. The special will also be the first place that audiences worldwide can watch a “thrillifying” scene from the movie ahead of its release.
If this is something that you need to tune in for, you must have access to your local NBC channel to watch live at 10 pm ET/PT. That means you need a traditional pay-TV provider, a TV antenna, a live TV streaming service (ie Fubo, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV) or a Peacock Premium Plus subscription to watch live. If you can’t watch live, the special will be available to stream on Peacock on-demand the next day.
Based on the Tony-winning musical and the book by Gregory Maguire, Wicked reimagines the classic characters of Glinda and the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz, exploring their backstory as friends that ultimately took diverging paths.
Reviews for Wicked are set to release later today, November 19 — What to Watch will have its review when the embargo lifts — but there’s been a strong early buzz about the movie on social media.
Just as an FYI to fans though, the movie releasing on November 22 is actually part one of two telling the entire story of Wicked (this first half is pretty much the first act of the Broadway musical). Wicked Part Two is already slated to come out a year later, on November 21, 2025.
Defying Gravity is actually the second behind-the-scenes special for a big movie premiering this week, as CBS aired The Making of Gladiator 2 on Monday, November 18, and it's now streaming on Paramount Plus, ahead of the release of Gladiator 2 in movie theaters also on November 22.
Watch the preview trailer for Defying Gravity below, and be sure to tune in to the special at 10 pm ET/PT on November 19 on NBC.
