Movies Like Wicked

Looking for movies like Wicked? Here are 10 films with the same spectacular musical fantasy energy. We picked each title based on shared tone, themes, and emotional feel.

1. 

   1. The Greatest Showman

   2017Musical

   Hugh Jackman plays P.T. Barnum, a showman who builds a circus around performers society has rejected, with Zac Efron and Zendaya also in the cast. Its celebration of outsiders, big anthems, and dazzling production numbers connect it to Wicked, which also champions someone judged for how she looks. The story is a loose, glossy take on history and is more straightforwardly upbeat than Wicked, without its political drama.

   Where to watch The Greatest Showman
2. 

   2. La La Land

   2016Musical

   Mia, an aspiring actress, and Sebastian, a jazz pianist, fall in love in Los Angeles as their ambitions begin to pull them in different directions. Wicked fans will recognize the bittersweet emotional pull of two people whose paths diverge. Damien Chazelle's film is a smaller, more intimate original musical with a dreamy, nostalgic feel and no fantasy elements, starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.

   Where to watch La La Land
3. 

   3. Moulin Rouge!

   2001Musical

   A young writer in 1899 Paris falls for a cabaret star at the Moulin Rouge who has been promised to a jealous duke. Baz Luhrmann's maximalist visuals and theatrical energy will appeal to anyone drawn to Wicked's spectacle. It is a frenetic jukebox musical built on pop songs, and its romance is more tragic than the friendship-driven story in Wicked.

   Where to watch Moulin Rouge!
4. 

   4. Chicago

   2002Musical

   In 1920s Chicago, aspiring star Roxie Hart lands in jail for murder and turns her trial into a path to fame with help from a slick lawyer. Like Wicked, it is a Broadway hit adapted for the screen, with show-stopping numbers and two women whose rivalry drives the plot. It is a cynical satire about celebrity and crime, with no fantasy, and its jazz-age style is sleek rather than whimsical.

   Where to watch Chicago
5. 

   5. Grease

   1978Comedy

   Danny and Sandy, a summer couple, end up at the same high school, where his greaser image and her wholesome one keep getting in the way. The school setting and songs that stick in your head line up with the Shiz University scenes of Wicked. It is a lighthearted 1950s romance with none of Wicked's political themes, and its fun comes from catchy numbers and nostalgia.

   Where to watch Grease
6. 

   6. Into the Woods

   2014Musical

   The wishes of a baker and his wife intertwine with the stories of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack, and Rapunzel, and getting what they want comes with consequences. Like Wicked, it revisits familiar fairy tales from new angles and asks what happens beyond the stories we know, with Meryl Streep as a witch. It adapts Stephen Sondheim's stage musical, so the songs are more intricate and the second half turns darker.

   Where to watch Into the Woods
7. 

   7. The Wizard of Oz

   1939Musical

   Dorothy, a Kansas farm girl, is swept by a tornado into the land of Oz and follows the yellow brick road to find the Wizard who can send her home. Wicked reimagines this same world and tells the story of the Wicked Witch of the West before Dorothy arrives. Judy Garland stars in a classic adventure that treats the witch purely as a villain, which makes revisiting it after Wicked especially interesting.

   Where to watch The Wizard of Oz
8. 

   8. Mamma Mia!

   2008Musical

   On a Greek island, a young bride secretly invites three men who might be her father to her wedding, without telling her mother, played by Meryl Streep. Built around ABBA songs, it offers big emotional moments, female friendships, and joyful sing-along numbers that Wicked fans will enjoy. It is a light, breezy jukebox musical with no fantasy and much less drama, perfect when you want something uncomplicated.

   Where to watch Mamma Mia!
9. 

   9. Les Misérables

   2012Musical

   Ex-convict Jean Valjean, played by Hugh Jackman, tries to build a new life in 19th-century France while pursued by Inspector Javert, as revolution brews in Paris. Its sweeping stage-musical scale and themes of injustice and redemption connect it to Wicked. It is almost entirely sung and much heavier in tone, and Tom Hooper's film has its actors sing live on set.

   Where to watch Les Misérables
10. 

    10. Dear Evan Hansen

    2021Musical

    Evan, an anxious teenager, finds himself caught in a lie after a classmate's death, when the boy's grieving family believes the two were close friends. Like Wicked, it is a Broadway musical that made the jump to film, and it explores loneliness and the desire to be seen. It is a contemporary drama with no fantasy, and its subject matter is far more serious and sensitive.

    Where to watch Dear Evan Hansen