Before there was a cast, there was a press tour.
Promotion for the film adaptation of the musical Bad started before Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo were announced as Glinda and Elphaba.
For nearly two decades, the idea of an on-screen production of the famous Broadway show, which debuted in October 2003, was tossed around Hollywood. At one point, Salma Hayek’s production company partnered with ABC, which had initially purchased the rights from Gregory Maguire, who wrote Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, the book on which the Broadway show is based.
Although that never came to fruition, the project then began to take shape Crazy rich Asians director Jon M. Chu was named director of the film and the leading roles went to Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo. With the film officially kicking off, avid fans waited with bated breath for any updates on the film from the stars.
With the film’s theatrical release fast approaching on November 22, the marketing team is now hard at work pushing some Barbie-level collaborations with brands like Stanley (for cups that almost had people fighting in a Target) , Lego and Mattel. Starbucks announced two drinks inspired by the film’s two protagonists.
The promotional tour for this film feels like a marathon, with the leading actresses appearing together or with their co-stars at major cultural events after wrapping up filming parts one and two of the film in January.
Since then, fans have spotted Grande and Erivo together at the Super Bowl, the Met Gala, and the Olympics, among others.
Grande’s fans know that she has wanted to play Glinda for over a decade. During a performance in June op The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallonthe host shared a 2011 tweet from Grande, saying she would love to play Glinda, calling it a “dream role.” A Grammy, Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress, Erivo is well known in the theater community after receiving critical acclaim for her role as Celie in the 2015 revival. The color purple.
While it’s not uncommon for stars to attend events to drum up interest, more often than not the duo wear pink and green to pay tribute to the characters they bring to the screen. More recently, there has been a long press tour for blockbuster films attempting to emulate the film’s overwhelming success Barbie last year’s film is becoming more and more common.
For theater fans who have been waiting years for this film to be released, seeing Grande and Erivo promote this film is more than welcome. Here are all the times the two witches showed up and changed us forever.
November 2021: Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo are cast
In November 2021, Grande and Erivo took to their Instagram accounts to announce their casting Bad. Their posts captured their reactions, warming the hearts of theater lovers everywhere.
April 2023: A work-in-progress exclusive first look at CinemaCon
A select group had the opportunity to see over five minutes of the film, featuring two of the show’s most popular songs, “Popular” and “Defying Gravity.”
The cast, including Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum, were also at the conference. Clips of Erivo’s portrayal leaked online, further generating hype for the film.
February 2024: Super Bowl LVIII appearance, first trailer
Erivo and Grande attended the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers in Las Vegas. They wore pink and green jerseys with their characters’ names on the back. They arrived together and were spotted chatting together during the game.
The first trailer for the film premiered during the game. Considering that this year’s Super Bowl was the most-watched show in TV history, it’s likely that people who didn’t know the movie before do now.
Excitement for the film grew quickly, but was overshadowed by Beyoncé teasing a new album in a Verizon commercial and releasing two singles that same night.
March 2024: presentation at the 2024 Academy Awards
The two witches graced the Oscars stage, in green and pink of course, to present the awards for Best Original Song and Best Original Score. Grande wore a strapless haute couture dress by Giambattista Valli, while Erivo was dressed in a dark green Louis Vuitton number with ruffles.
May 2024: Walking the Met Gala carpet, performing a duet
The Bad stars stepped out for a glamorous evening at the 2024 Met Gala and spotted each other on the carpet. This time, Erivo wore a black Thom Browne dress decorated with pink flowers, and Grande wore an iridescent Loewe dress with a corset. They answered questions together and held hands on the red carpet.
Grande was expected to perform that night, but the pair did not know if they would share the microphone. The two eventually stood on stage and sang ‘When You Believe’ by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. No professional videos were released that night, but videos of the rendition are leaking online.
Photos showed them also wearing each other’s designated color during the performance.
July 2024: 2024 Summer Olympics
Since these two are no strangers to sporting events, why not attend one on the world stage?
The pair walked arm in arm during the opening ceremony, which took place in front of the Eiffel Tower. They wore their own colors this time and answered questions from the press, telling reporters who they were most excited to see perform.
Chu later joined the pair for the qualifying rounds of the women’s gymnastics event.
October 2024: Grande hosts SNLcast attends Academy Museum gala
Grande dusted off her comedic acting chops to host the October 12 episode Saturday evening live with Stevie Nicks as musical guest.
However, there was no shortage of singing on the part of the host. Grande started singing during her monologue and in some skits she performed throughout the night.
One sketch, “Bridesmaids Speech,” is now finding legs on TikTok and has gone viral since it first aired.
A week later, Grande stepped out with Erivo, Chu and Goldblum for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Gala on October 19 in Los Angeles.
The group took photos together and spoke to the press about how excited they were for the film to be released in theaters.
With less than a month until the film hits theaters, fans can expect Grande and Erivo to leave a trail of pink and green all the way to theaters.
Bad is in cinemas from November 22.
