Peter Dinklage’s upcoming role in Wicked follows a new trend after his last two $776 million franchise movies. The actor is slated to lend his voice to the role of Dr. Dillamond, a goat and history professor at Shiz University. Dr. Dillamond is the character who cautions Elphaba about rising dark forces who form a threat to the speaking animals of Oz, which includes himself. The Wicked movie marks the first installment of a two-part adaptation of the 2003 Broadway musical created by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman. It is set to release on November 27, 2024.

Directed by Jon M. Chu, the Wicked cast features Cynthia Erivo portraying Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda, supported by a talented ensemble cast including Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey, Bowen Yang, and Keala Settle. While Peter Dinklage is not among the main cast, Universal announced his casting as Dr. Dillamond and screened five minutes of Wicked footage at CinemaCon. Dinklage has been doing many commercial franchise blockbusters recently, and his upcoming role continues this new pattern in his film choices.

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Wicked Is Peter Dinklage’s Third Franchise Prequel Movie In Only 2 Years

After Transformers and The Hunger Games in 2023

In just the past two years, Wicked is Peter Dinklage’s third franchise prequel movie. In 2023, he voiced the character of Scourge in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, which cost $200 million to make and earned $429 million worldwide. Scourge was the villain of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts – the film reinvents the comic’s formidable villain character a little, portraying him as the leader of the Terrorcons. Peter Dinklage loves villains and voiced the arrogant, ambitious Scourge with his signature flair and panache. However, that was only the first of two major franchise prequel movies Dinklage did last year.

In 2023, Peter Dinklage also played Dean Casca Highbottom in The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which cost around $100 million and collected $145.4 million at the US box office. Casca Highbottom was the Dean of the Academy and inadvertently ended up creating the Hunger Games, becoming the public face of the event. The film shows his regret over this, until his murder by future president Coriolanus Snow. This may not be one of Peter Dinklage’s best roles, but it marked the second major franchise prequel film he did in 2023.

Will Peter Dinklage’s Doctor Dillamond Be In 2025’s Wicked: Part Two?

Doctor Dillamond’s Role In The Sequel Is Unclear

Peter Dinklage returning as Doctor Dillamond in Wicked: Part Two would yet add another prequel to his career after Part One. The cinematic rendition of the iconic Broadway hit will be a two-part theatrical event, with only Wicked: Part 1 coming out on November 27, 2024. Wicked: Part Two is to follow on November 26, 2025, and it is not yet known whether Peter Dinklage’s character, Doctor Dillamond, will feature in it. That entirely depends on the character’s fate in the first movie. Either way, for now, his role in Wicked follows a new trend after his last blockbuster film.

Wicked

Based on the famous play that stemmed from The Wizard of Oz, Wicked is a fantasy musical that sees an all-new cast take on the modern tale. The film explores the origins of the Wicked Witch of the West, a woman scorned by society due to her green skin, with even the Wizard of Oz framing her for a crime she didn’t commit. 

Director

Jon M. Chu

Release Date

November 27, 2024

Studio(s)

Marc Platt Productions

Distributor(s)

Universal Pictures

Writers

Winnie Holzman , Stephen Schwartz