Fans of the musical Wicked desperate to see a big screen version of the show hit screens just got some odd news: director John M. Chu has announced the movie will be split into two films, released a year apart.
Wicked tells a prequel story to The Wizard of Oz centered on the witches of the titular fairyland. Since its inception, a movie version has hit one roadblock after the next. Universal Studios, the Hollywood house producing the film, struggled for years to find a suitable director for the film. Stephen Daldry eventually signed on to helm the project in 2016, though further production delays eventually prompted him to leave. Universal then pulled the film from its schedule, replacing it with Cats. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed filming by another two years. Work on the movie ramped up in 2021 when In the Heights’ Chu joined the production as director, and with the subsequent announcement that Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande would play the leads, Elphaba and Glinda, respectively.
Related: Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo to star in movie version of Wicked
Now the film has hit another snag. Chu released a statement on Twitter on April 26, announcing the splitting of the film in two, along with projected release dates of Christmas 2024 and Christmas 2025.
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Special #Wicked Movie Announcement… ??????sent from my OzPhone: pic.twitter.com/4qPpvVD4rR
— Jon M. Chu (@jonmchu) April 26, 2022
“As we prepared the production over the last year, it became impossible to wrestle the story of Wicked into a single film without doing some real damage to it,” Chu wrote. “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. 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 for these beloved characters.”
Chu further went on to assure fans that he, along with the cast, is committed to creating the best version of the movie possible.
Frankly, as fans of author Gregory Maguire’s original novel, the announcement of the splitting of Wicked gives us a bit of hope. In adapting the book to the stage, writer Winnie Holzman, who is also penning the screenplay, jettisoned a number of key subplots, characters, and themes from the narrative. Here’s hoping she, along with Chu, retains more of the novel’s observations on sexuality, politics, and religious fanaticism in Oz.
Time will tell. In the meantime, have a look at how Wicked fans are reacting on Twitter:
Have you considered just making one two and a half hour movie? Why are film studios and directors so opposed to just taking a stage show and not cutting anything? If it can fit on stage for one evening there's no reason it can't be the same on film. Makes no sense
— Daniel 'Why Am I Still Getting Hate' Keem?? (@MrVicePrez) April 26, 2022
It’s so weird to green light two movies before the first one even comes out.. Not only that, but y’all are acting like we wouldn’t have sat through 2-3 hours and we very well would have.
— qia ? (@grandelani) April 26, 2022
WERE GETTING WICKED X2 EVERYONE JUMP pic.twitter.com/xIYH1BnvEA
— fatima ?? waiting for DL8 (@buteramycrosant) April 26, 2022
You can cut Something Bad and Wonderfull. We'd appreciate that
— Kayke (@kayke_27) April 26, 2022
I don’t really see this working out. My expectations are now very low, which is good, because they can only go up. I mean, if we can sit through 2.5 hours on broadway, we can sit through up to 3 hours at the cinema. We’ve done it for other films.
— Mike Legere (@I_JustDont_Know) April 26, 2022
Wicked! and Wicked 2: Here We Go Again
— samantha (@squambos) April 26, 2022
TWO WICKED MOVIES??? OMG pic.twitter.com/jnq44ONIsP
— Bradley ? (@bradleyberdecia) April 26, 2022
Please tell us you cast Streisand as Morrible pic.twitter.com/8exuyYGxUb
— jami ?ÿñ (@jamizfoshiz) April 26, 2022
Jim
I’m smelling another Cats
Seth
I cannot expect much from someone that produced with such disrespect for the source material the celluloid abortion that was the Jem and the Holograms remake.
KiraNerysRules
I’m with you on that!
jackscott
I enjoyed the musical, however, 2 parts = pass!
cuteguy
Cats was a mess and In The Heights underperformed. Now with Ariana Grande as lead?! Good luck with that movie but sounds like trouble
Mister P
I am I the minority, but I never thought Wicked was very good. It is not memorable in any way.
They should have written their own show and left The wizard of Oz out of it.
Mr. Stadnick
I’m with you. I thought the show was tedious. I was ready for it to be over by intermission. I saw it with the original cast as I knew someone in it. If I hadn’t had a friend in it I would have left after the first act.
BaltoSteve
Given the source material, I can see that you would get well over 3-4 hours’ worth of screen time. And short of making some severe edits, having a two part series would make sense. However, I can also see as it being motivated by money as well.
jcool
it all started with the success of the final harry potter movie. and i thought it worked there, there was too much story for one film. plus they sold twice as many tickets, so this won’t be the last time.
JessPH
It’s all about the money. More movies means more money.
IAmUp4It
“Crazy Rich Asians” was good but maybe Chu can’t do everything based upon one hit! Liza should play Madame Morrible with Joel Grey as the Wizard it could be a “Cabaret” reunion along with Liza’s connection with the 1939 original. Other movies have been 3 + hours this can be too! 2 separate movies appears as a money grab and us fans have waited nearly 20 years for a feature film!