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‘Wicked: Part One’ Stuns CinemaCon with Exclusive Trailer Reveal

Hey Moviegoers, Universal Pictures stunned us WOW’d the world with a mind-boggling exclusive “Wicked: Part One” trailer at CinemaCon 2025, a modern film for movie and theater lovers alike. Its big-screen adaptation, featuring Renstar, Cynthia Erivo, and Ariana Grande, is one of the most Webby-obsessed, world-famous pieces of the Broadway smash you’ll have the treat to see off-Broadway released in 2025. The first “Wicked: Part One” trailer was released at CinemaCon, the biggest gathering of movie theater owners and insiders. It’s been exciting in the entertainment world. With its dazzling visuals, career-defining songs, and an all-star cast, the trailer teased a movie poised to take over the 2025 holiday box office.

Fans of Wicked and The Wizard of Oz have been anticipating the film version of the smash hit Broadway show that has delighted audiences for over 20 years. Wicked: Part One will be directed by Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians, In the Heights) and promises to bring the magical land of Oz to the big screen through advanced visual effects, awe-inspiring musical moments, and a new perspective on Elphaba and Glinda’s story. The trailer starts with a breathtaking shot of the Emerald City, with an ocean of glowing green lights, teasing the magical wonder it promises to bring. Fans were excited to see glimpses of Cynthia Erivo’s powerful performance as Elphaba, the misunderstood witch whose transformation from pariah to Wicked Witch of the West is the story’s beating heart. Ariana Grande dazzled as her Good Witch, Glinda, a bubbly but ambitious girl who becomes best friends with Elphaba, the misunderstood teenage outcast.

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Universal Pictures spared no expense to make “Wicked: Part One” a visual and emotional tour de force. The CinemaCon footage offered quick glimpses of some of the musical’s most treasured songs, including Defying Gravity, which sent chills down attendees’ spines. Erivo’s powerhouse vocals during the climactic scene where Elphaba ascends into the sky sealed the movie as an instant watch for both fans of musical theater and casual moviegoers alike. Another standout from the trailer was Grande’s performance of Popular, which brought to life bright costumes, playful choreography, and trademark vocal flourishes that helped make Glinda feel both new and recognizable. The ensemble of “Wicked: Part One,” including Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, and Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard, is ready to deliver unforgettable performances.

The trailer, which debuted exclusively at CinemaCon this week, received rapturous applause and excited social media reactions from industry insiders and attendees able to score a sneak peek. Many touted the film as the next great blockbuster, likening its epicness to Les Misérables and The Greatest Showman, while others sang praises of Jon M. Chu’s visionary direction in bringing the land of Oz to the big screen. Fans took to X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram to share their responses, with some calling the trailer “spellbinding” and “everything we dreamed of.” Others lauded the film for maintaining the Broadway production’s faithful adaptation, thereby preserving the magic of Wicked on the big screen.

What lies ahead for ‘Wicked: Part One’?

With the initial entry scheduled for release in November 2025, Universal’s marketing push is likely to kick into high gear after the CinemaCon debut. The studio has teased more trailers, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and interactive fan events ahead of the movie’s release.

Moreover, splitting the film into two parts enables the full depth of Elphaba and Glinda’s journey to receive ample time to fill the screen. “Wicked: Part Two” is currently scheduled for a 2026 release. This two-part format opens up the possibility of a more expansive story, allowing viewers to get a much deeper experience than a singular, tragically told film would reach.

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The “Wicked: Part One” trailer screened at CinemaCon 2025 has laid the groundwork for what could be one of the most popular movie musicals of all time. The movie is a true nostalgic playground with exciting visuals and powerhouse performances that are sure to entice long-time fans as well as newcomers.

As the months continue to dwindle until “Wicked: Part One” hits the theaters, one thing is for sure: this film will take us on a magical ride, and we will all be defying gravity. “Wicked: Part One,” but stay tuned to Honk Magazine for exclusive updates, interviews, and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film that you won’t find anywhere else.

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Album Review

Cognitive Constellation Corps blurs humanity and technology on “Thank You for Your Feedback (I)” album

In a world of notifications and automated responses, algorithms, and feedback requests, Cognitive Constellation Corps finds something unexpectedly human inside the machinery. “Thank You for Your Feedback (I)” is an alt-pop exploration of connection, isolation, communication, and the increasingly complicated relationship between people and technology, transforming familiar procedural language into something else.

Created by Brooke Tamsin Clevenger, a Belfast-based artist, the project’s principal composer, lyricist, producer, and conceptual director, the album is deliberately constructed around what happens to human emotion when our lives are increasingly structured by systems that process information rather than necessarily understand feelings. The album opens with “Opening Loop (i),” which introduces that world through the idea of repetition, linking software loops to the habits we humans learn in modern life.

Followed by “Signal Received (i),” the track becomes more fragile, a mix of bubbling electronic movement and the promise of waiting for a response. It picks up the strange emotional weight that can be behind something as simple as a digital signal. “Thank You For Your Feedback (i)” examines the pressure to be constantly evaluated, and “Echo Chamber (i)” reflects on how digital interaction creates intimacy and amplifies alienation. “The Curve of Clarity (i)” is a road toward understanding where data and human realization begin to converge.

On the production side, the project explores electronic textures without allowing its technological concept to overwhelm its emotional core. “Threadbare, Threadshare (i)” turns the fatigue of constant communication into an interesting concept. “The Response Loop (You’re Still Talking)” injects a sense of urgency with a faster, more club-friendly beat that mixes early-80s electronic music with state-of-the-art sounds.

“Harmonic Distortion (i)” continues the album’s obsession with emotion that has been filtered, and “Always (i) [Sevahem]” is an appropriate closer, reflecting on organic feeling and ancient human knowledge through the prism of digital sound. “Thank you for Your Feedback” is a tech-driven concept that is always aware of the person behind the screen. Cognitive Constellation Corps is cerebral and electronic and conceptually ambitious while remaining emotionally accessible.

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Artist Spotlight

Shawn Brown raises the volume on love, loss, and survival in “What a Way to Go”

Shawn Brown’s new single, “What a Way to Go,” is a guitar-heavy rock-pop anthem that makes doomed young love, instability, and survival something ferociously cathartic. The single, produced by celebrated musician and producer Grecco Buratto, fully embraces the scope of its story. Brown doesn’t turn heartbreak into a quiet, inward experience, but he energizes it, giving it drive and urgency.

“What a Way to Go” is a relationship against impossible odds, and the emotional tension is the clash between a world that feels like it’s falling apart and the stubbornness of two people who won’t let go of each other. That tension is what makes the song dramatic, but it also allows Brown to aim for a bigger, more explosive sound.

Recorded at The Trench in Portland with engineer Gregg Williams and the full Shawn Brown Band and trusted creative team, including Ben Landsverk, Jeff Langston, Ned Failing, Tiago Becker, and Juan Garcia Petri. Their combined presence adds to the muscular, expansive character of the single that one would expect from an anthem of this magnitude.

Brown handles the emotional commitment with confidence, true to its survivalist spirit, and pairs the guitars with a performance that feels immediate rather than remote. “What a Way to Go” is one of Shawn Brown’s most electrifying releases, blending raw rock power with the emotional openness of a love story that won’t go quietly. It’s raw, loud, passionate, and unapologetically alive.

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