Ariana Grande was forced to put the filming of her movie Wicked on pause due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, but the good news is that it may bring us new music from her sooner rather than later.

A source tells Page Six that because Ari now has some free time on her hands, she’s been working with super-producer Max Martin in a New York recording studio. Martin has worked on many of Ari’s hits, such as “Problem,” “Break Free,” “Side to Side,” “Dangerous Woman,” “God Is a Woman” and “No Tears Left to Cry.”

So far, Page Six reports, it’s just been Ari and Martin in the studio; she’s not currently working with any other artists.

An insider says, “Her priority has been [her Wicked character] Glinda for the past two years, and still is, as they haven’t finished the film.”

Her next album, when it emerges, will be the follow-up to 2020’s Positions. The insider says, “She doesn’t know when she’ll want to release [an album], as she wants to be respectful of the timeline for Wicked, and originally didn’t want to do any music at all until after the films were released.”

However, the source notes, “She works quickly and drops [into the studio] instinctively whenever she feels ready … so who knows?”

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