Jeff Goldblum In Talks To Join Quintessential Fantasy Movie Prequel

Jeff Goldblum is in talks to join The Wizard of Oz prequel film Wicked as the wizard himself.

By Douglas Helm | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

Jeff Goldblum could be heading to Oz as Variety recently reported that the Jurassic Park actor is in final talks to join the upcoming Wicked adaptations as the Wizard himself. The John M Chu adaptations of the stage musical Wicked will be two films set for Christmas 2024 and 2025 release dates. The two-part film comes to us from Universal Pictures.

Jeff Goldblum is the latest addition to the cast of the Wicked films with Jonathan Bailey recently cast in the role of Fiyero. The lead roles will be played by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo as Glinda and Elphaba, respectively. If you’re unfamiliar with the Broadway musical, Wicked is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz that follows the life of Elphaba before she became known as the Wicked Witch.

Jeff Goldblum seems like the perfect fit to play the enigmatic Wizard of Oz. While nothing is set in stone yet, hopefully, they can lock down the deal and get Goldblum on board. Meanwhile, the Wicked musical is on its own Broadway tour, so you can catch the production on stage while we wait for the films to come out.

Jurassic World: Dominion

Recently, Jeff Goldblum reprised his role as Ian Malcolm in the latest entry to the Jurassic World franchise, Jurassic World: Dominion. Though reviews of the movie were mixed at best, it was nice for fans to see Goldblum alongside Sam Neil’s Alan Grant and Laura Dern’s Ellie Sattler again. The last time all three were together on the same screen was in the original Jurassic Park.

If you want to see Jeff Goldblum in a new project, you won’t have to wait too long. His next blockbuster Asteroid City is set to come out before the end of the year. Asteroid City is the latest film from auteur Wes Anderson, who directs and co-writes the script with Roman Coppola.

Asteroid City follows an astronomy convention that takes place in the desert in the 1950s. As you might expect from a Wes Anderson film, the cast is a sea of some of Hollywood’s biggest names. Along with Jeff Goldblum, the film stars Margot Robbie, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Bryan Cranston, Steve Carrell, Edward Norton, Maya Hawke, Rupert Friend, Sophia Lillis, Tilda Swinton, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Fisher Stevens, Liev Schreiber, Matt Dillon, Rita Wilson, and Jeffrey Wright.

Ever the eclectic talent, Jeff Goldblum can also be heard on Dungeons & Dragons podcast series Dark Dice, which follows six adventurers facing a shape-shifting demon while they search for a town’s missing children. The most recent episode of the podcast aired on October 16. Goldblum plays an Elven sorcerer named Balmur in the series.

As far as the Wicked movies go, not much else is known at this time other than the lead roles and the possibility of Jeff Goldblum joining the cast. It is interesting that the film is being broken up into two parts, considering the musical is less than three hours long. Presumably, it will be delving more into the characters and provide more time to expand the story and the world of Oz.