“Wicked” Will Be Split Into Two Movies

The upcoming adaptation of Wicked will be split into two movies based on the Broadway musical.  They will hit theaters on Christmas Day in 2024 and 2025. The director announced on Twitter  that “it would be impossible to wrestle the story of Wicked into a single film without doing some real damage to it. (The show’s official site lists the running time as 2 hours and 45 minutes.) “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.”

He says this will allow the story to add more “depth and surprise to the journeys of these beloved characters.” Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo will play Glinda and Elphaba, the witches of Oz. Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel originated those roles on Broadway.