The Wicked movie is now going to be two Wicked movies. The two movies will be released a year apart. Director Jon M. Chu shared the news via Twitter. In the post Chu shared the reasoning behind this news.
“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.”
The movies will be released for two consecutive Christmas holiday seasons starting in December 2024. Both of the movies will star Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo as Glinda and Elphaba. Stephen Schwartz is adapting the music from the Broadway musical, for he wrote the music and wrote the lyrics. Winnie Holzman is joining him in working on the screenplay. Marc Platt, who produced the Broadway musical is also producing the film.
Read the full statement from Chu’s Twitter here:
Wicked originally debuted on Broadway in 2003. It is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz. The show is still running on Broadway and has made to date over $1 billion. It is the second most lucrative Broadway musical after The Lion King.
What do you think of Wicked being made into two movies? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below.
