STACK #253 November 2025

CINEMA FEATURE

visit jbhifi.com.au/stack

N ow demonised as the Wicked Witch of the West, City palace, basking in the perks of fame and popularity. But as an angry mob rises against the Wicked Witch, Elphaba must reunite with Glinda to transform herself – and all of Oz – for good. For Erivo, 38, and Grande, 32, the roles have been nothing short of transformative, forming a lifelong bond through years of filming and promotion. Erivo tells STACK that it wasn’t until attending last year’s Wicked premiere at Sydney’s State Theatre that she realised the enormity of the role. If musical lovers delighted in last year’s Wicked – chronicling the unlikely friendship between Cynthia Erivo’s green-skinned ElphabaThropp and Ariana Grande’s perky, pink-loving Glinda Upland – then Wicked: For Good finds the former friends in very different places. Words Gill Pringle WICKED: FOR GOOD Elphaba lives in exile in the Ozian forest, while Glinda – now dubbed Glinda the Good – resides at the Emerald

Glen Powell

Director Edgar Wright and star Glen Powell take on Stephen King’s iconic dystopian action thriller, The Running Man . Words Gill Pringle THE RUNNING MAN

I n a near-future society, The Running Man is a deadly reality show where contestants, or Runners, must survive 30 days being hunted by assassins – every move broadcast to a bloodthirsty public. And when you’re starring in a film called The Running Man ,

Josh Brolin with Director Edgar Wright

you'd better be sure that you look cool when you’re running. Thus, Glen Powell – starring as contestant Ben Richards – turned to none other than his Top Gun: Maverick co-star, Tom Cruise. “When I was first cast, Tom was my first call. He said: ‘Film yourself running as soon as possible. You don’t look as cool as you think you do’,” Powell told STACK in Las Vegas, where a sizzle reel for Edgar Wright’s film debuted earlier this year. “And so I did. And the fun part is, you talk to these running coaches, and they’re like: There’s only one actor that knows how to run on screen – and it’s Tom Cruise,” says the Twisters star, who is fast following in Cruise’s footsteps as a go-to do-it all leading man. Under Edgar Wright’s keen direction, this dystopian action thriller – based on Stephen King’s 1982 novel (under his pseudonym Richard Bachman) – is destined to be a crowd pleaser. The second adaptation of King’s novel – following the 1987 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger – Wright believes his version is truer to the source material. “The real story in that book has never quite been told the way it was written, so when I got the opportunity to make this film the way that I’ve always seen it, I jumped right in,” says the British director.

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo

“It was really overwhelming. I thought I had gotten used to watching the film... but never in a room full of people. So the first time I saw it with an audience properly was in Australia, and I didn't expect to be so overwhelmed by how effusive and how alive the audience was,” she recalls. “They cry, they laugh, they cheer, they talk, and they gasp. It was so wonderful to see that people wanted to be active as they were watching it. It was very special.” While both films were shot simultaneously, For Good takes place many years later, with Elphaba continuing her fight for animal rights while living as a fugitive, hunted by the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) and Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh). Their

actions – and the surprising arrival of Dorothy Gale from Kansas – will test Elphaba and Glinda’s friendship like never before. “We were cast together but we didn't

“ The Running Man is one of those movies that gives the audience someone to cheer for. At the centre of it is Ben Richards, a regular guy in a crazy not very different future where the world and media have gone out of control. And it’s worth pointing out that Stephen King’s original book was set in 2025.”

Revisit the original

Revisit the original

audition together,” says Erivo. “We decided we were going to make sure we protected each other… that we were kind and worked in honesty.”

The Running Man is in cinemas Nov 6

Wicked: For Good is in cinemas Nov 20.

24 NOVEMBER 2025

jbhifi.com.au