Wicked was filmed in the UK at Sky Studios Elstree, Leavesden Studios, Seven Sisters Country Park, Leighton Buzzard and Norfolk.
Both movies were shot back-to-back, with a crew of more than 3,000 people and some of the biggest names in Hollywood and the West End.
Adapted from the long-running stage musical with lead roles originated by Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, Wicked follows Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), Galinda (Ariana Grande) and the Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum) before we meet them in The Wizard of Oz.
They’re joined by characters drawn from the musical and the Gregory Maguire book it’s loosely based on, including Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), Nessarose, (Marissa Bode), Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), Boq (Christian Slater) and Dr Dillamond (Peter Dinklage).
While the original Wizard of Oz movie was filmed on the MGM lot in Culver City. The original Yellow Brick Road stood in Stage 27, which you can visit as part of the Sony Pictures Studio Tour.
But in addition to many spectacular sets built on sound stages, the Wicked movie was actually filmed on location! Although the sets are long gone, you can still get close to the exact places where they once stood, no tour required.
Wicked Filming Locations
The 2024 musical Wicked was filmed at Ivinghoe in Buckinghamshire, King’s Lynn in Norfolk, the Seven Sisters in East Sussex, and in Elstree and Leavesden.
Wicked was the first film production made at the new Sky Studios Elstree in Hertfordshire. Special planning permission rules were handed out to the studios to make it easier to get the sets built with less red tape.
It was an unusual production for another reason too – the movie was partially powered by the studios thousands of solar panels.
As well as all 13 sound stages at Sky Studios Elstree, Wicked took over 6 sound stages at Leavesden Studios near Watford. As well as huge sets that stood up to 50 feet high, water tanks were built into the design.
Here are some of the amazing set details and real filming locations to look out for in Wicked.
Wicked Locations
Is the Wicked Tulip Field Real?
Yes! The Wicked tulip field is on a real field near King’s Lynn in Norfolk, and you can visit in spring – but you’ve got to be fast. It’s the only tulip field in the UK that opens to visitors over two weeks each year.
Tickets for the tulip field from Wicked already sell extremely quickly, and that’s before the Norfolk attraction’s guest role in the movie! But if you do manage to get yourself the already-viral tulip tickets, you can feel good about your purchase.
The event raises money for the local hospice, Tapping House.
Munchkinland
The real Munchkinland location is Ivinghoe near Leighton Buzzard in Aylesbury Vale, Buckinghamshire. In the movie, the location is home to the Munchkins, who live in colourful cottages.
And it’s the starting point of the iconic Yellow Brick Road. Behind-the-scenes footage of the Wicked set under construction reveals how Munchkinland rose up out of the fields.
You can visit Wicked’s Munchkinland filming location in Buckinghamshire, and while you won’t find those colourful houses, it’s a picture of quaintness. The village of Ivinghoe and the surrounding area are known for the Ivinghoe Beacon, a windmill complete with sails, and views of the rolling Chiltern Hills.
You can catch another angle of the scenery in Matilda the Musical, which was filmed nearby. And Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was filmed in another corner of the Chiltern Hills – a hotspot for windmills.
Munchkinland Tulip Field
Wicked’s Munchkinland tulip field location is on the outskirts of King’s Lynn in North Norfolk.
The tulip field is owned by Mark and Susanne Eves, who planted millions of tulips in an arrangement designed and planted specially for the musical.
“They wanted something very colourful and crisp. The vision was to have a large field full of millions of tulips that the characters could run through in different shots.”
Susanne Eves
The Emerald City
The sprawling Emerald City sets were built at Sky Studios Elstree and Leavesden Studios, both just outside London. Production Designer Nathan Crowley led the project, giving the actors real spaces to work in, all taking inspiration from a range of period sources.
For instance, he cites the likes of Daniel Burnham’s White City exhibition complex at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair as one of his inspirations.
Of course, another of Crowley’s magical worlds hit cinemas just last year, and showcased some of the same practical effects and onscreen magic. He was the production designer behind Wonka, the Roald Dahl prequel movie which was released in December 2023.
If you want to refresh your memory of the stunning town square sets and the real filming locations featured in the movie, check out our Wonka filming location round-up right here.
Shiz University
Wicked’s Shiz University set was built on location in Ivinghoe, on the fringes of the Munchkinland set. BTS footage revealed hints of the Shiz University exteriors while filming was in progress.
Other parts of Shiz University were constructed on sound stages, including the university dorms.
Shiz University Dorm Room
Glinda and Elphaba’s dorm room was built as an elaborate set, complete with the fold-out luggage that lets Glinda store her all-pink wardrobe. As seen in theozvlog and followtheyellowbric’s sneak peek of the set, it’s full of fabulous details including the ornate windows, books and more.
There’s surprisingly little left to the green screen.
Emerald City Express
Wicked’s Emerald City Express is a functioning train (albeit a slow-moving one), despite its fantastical cogs and panels. According to the musical’s director, Jon M. Chu, the train weighs around 16 tons, and other estimates suggest it’s even heavier.
Since filming ended, the train has been on its own journey that included pulling into Paris in time for the Olympic Games.
The imposing, working train was incorporated to solve a logistical problem of a transportation method that fits the rules of the Land of Oz…
“We can’t go by airship, because then we’d be stepping on the territory of the Wizard, who uses hot air balloons. We can't go by carriage, because the animals are free, and that would be enslaving them, and that would destroy the story. Then you realise we need a river to get there, but the problem with that is then you need water.”
Nathan Crowley, Production Designer
Which leads onto our next location..
The River
Wicked’s river and lake scenes were filmed in Ivinghoe and at Seven Sisters Cuckmere Haven. Filming took place at Seven Sisters Country Park in the South Downs in June 2023, over a year before Wicked: Part One’s release.
This scenic location is part of East Sussex’s South Downs National Park on the South Coast of England, rolling valleys and dropping away to chalk cliffs.
The exact place where Wicked’s boat scenes were filmed is the point where the Cuckmere River meets the cliffs at the coast.