In April 2022, it was revealed that the upcoming Wicked film adaptation from Universal would be two movies, rather than one.
This came as a massive surprise for fans of the musical the movie is based on, especially when the runtime for Wicked: Part 1 was revealed to be two hours and 41 minutes.
The full musical — as in, both Act I (being adapted in Wicked: Part 1) and Act II (being adapted in Wicked: Part 2) — runs two hours and 45 minutes long. This means that the movie adaptation of Act I is just four minutes shorter than the entirety of the stage version.
Why Is The Wicked Movie Two Parts?
According to director Jon M. Chu, the Wicked movie is being divided into two parts to adapt the musical's story "without doing some real damage to it."
Besides simply filming a production of the stage musical (like the filmed production of Hamilton on Disney+), it is arguably impossible to adapt a stage script to film without making some changes.
Often, when musicals are adapted into movies, this means cutting songs, scenes, or even entire characters or subplots. Chu knows this all too well, having directed the movie adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's Tony-winning musical In the Heights.
Some fans of the musical criticized the In the Heights movie for not only excluding entire songs like "Enough," but for killing off the character who sings it in the stage version.
In his X (then-Twitter) post announcing that Wicked would become Wicked: Part 1 and Wicked: Part 2, Chu explained that they came to realize "it would be impossible" to adapt Wicked to film "without doing some real damage."
He said that when they "tried to cut songs or trim characters," it felt as though they were making "fatal compromises to the source material:"
"Here's what happened: as we prepared this production over the last year, it became increasingly clear that it would be impossible to wrestle the story of 'Wicked' into a single film without doing some real damage to it. As we tried to cut songs or trim characters, those decisions began to feel like fatal compromises to the source material that has entertained us all for so many years."
Their solution was "to give [themselves] a bigger canvas," Chu explained, expanding Wicked into two movies. This also allowed the team to "[bring] more depth and surprise to the journeys of these beloved characters:"
"So we decided to give ourselves a bigger canvas and make not just one 'Wicked' movie but TWO!!!! With more space, we can tell the story of 'Wicked' as it was meant to be told while bringing even more depth and surprise to the journeys of these beloved characters."
Speaking with Gizmodo ahead of the release of Wicked: Part 1, Chu explained that "part of the problem of getting [the movie's production] started" was that Universal was "dancing back and forth" about whether to make it one movie or two.
He felt, "You cannot make a good one movie or two movies" without committing, so they decided on two movies, knowing they could "always change [their] minds" about it later on:
"[Universal] was dancing back and forth and I think that was part of the problem of getting it started. They kept going 'Oh it’s one movie, no it’s two movies.' I had to come and be like, 'We need to make a choice with this.' You cannot make a good one movie or two movies by dancing back and forth. Commit to two movies right now, otherwise, we’re never making those two movies good. I promise you that. We can always change our minds, but we cannot think about it right now. That’s what we committed to."
Chu posited that after deciding on making two movies, they were able to "pull this thing apart" and find where there was more they could add or develop:
"And once you commit to that, then you can pull this thing apart and find what we need to. The plot holes we need to fill, and the things we need to build to build up to 'Defying Gravity.' So that was a big choice."
When Does Wicked Part 2 Release?
Wicked Part 2 will be released on Nov. 21, 2025 — exactly one day shy of a year after Wicked Part 1's Nov. 22, 2024 release.
The sequel — once titled Wicked Part 2: For Good — had initially been announced for late December of 2025 but moved its release date a month earlier in September 2024.
Wicked Part 2 will pick up from where Wicked Part 1 leaves off — or, at the beginning of the musical's second act, presumably beginning with the song "Thank Goodness."
It will feature the same cast as Wicked Part 1, once again starring Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande-Butera as Glinda.
Wicked Part 1 hits theaters this Friday, November 22.
Gillian Blum has been a writer at The Direct since 2022, reporting primarily from New York City. Though she covers news from across the entertainment industry, Gillian has a particular focus on Marvel and DC, including comics, movies, and television shows. She also commonly reports on Percy Jackson, Invincible, and other similar franchises.
