Overview
- U.S. Thursday previews reached nearly €19 million, per Deadline reports cited in German outlets, with industry forecasts calling for a record-chasing opening once special screenings are included.
- Director Jon M. Chu reiterated the project was conceived as two films but said future Oz stories remain possible, noting that audiences should see the second film first.
- Grande said she practiced daily for months before her first audition and that early rehearsal recordings captured a thin, uncertain voice that grew clearer and more confident each week.
- She described the production as healing her relationship to creativity and explained she used her birth name, Ariana Grande-Butera, in the credits to honor her younger self.
- On the press tour she shifted from platinum-blonde to brunette to mirror the sequel’s darker tone, and reports highlighted her close bond with Cynthia Erivo, who intervened during a red-carpet fan breach in Singapore.