'Wicked: For Good' Completely Ignored by Academy in 2026 Oscar Race
The 2026 Academy Awards brought disappointing news for Wicked: For Good, as the sequel walked away without any Oscar nominations.
Despite Golden Globe success and new original songs, Wicked: For Good failed to secure a single nomination at the 2026 Academy Awards.
Produced by NBCUniversal and directed by Jon M. Chu, the film continues the story introduced in 2024’s Wicked, which had earned 10 Oscar nominations the previous year. However, its follow-up did not appear in any category when nominations were revealed Wednesday morning.
Universal Studios
The most notable omission occurred in Best Original Song. Stephen Schwartz wrote two new pieces for the sequel — “The Girl in the Bubble,” performed by Ariana Grande, and “No Place Like Home,” sung by Cynthia Erivo. These additions made the film eligible this year after the first installment was excluded from the category in 2025 because it relied entirely on stage musical material.
Earlier in the awards season, both leading actresses were recognized at the Golden Globes, where Erivo and Grande each received nominations. Schwartz’s original songs were also nominated at the same ceremony held in January.
Erivo stars as Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West, while Grande portrays Galinda, who later becomes Glinda the Good Witch. The sequel continues the layered backstory of Oz’s most famous witches that began in the first film.
Chu previously explained that the two movies were filmed back-to-back over a period exceeding 160 days. Production was paused with only 10 days remaining because of the strike, delaying crucial scenes involving flight and the musical number “Defying Gravity.” Filming concluded at the start of 2024.
The film is adapted from the 2003 Broadway musical, itself based on Gregory Maguire’s bestselling novel. Screenwriters Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox crafted the script, while Schwartz adapted the music for film. Broadway legends Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth made cameo appearances in the original movie during the “One Short Day” sequence.
