Why the Wicked movie only covers Act 1 of Broadway show

Broadway fans have been clamoring for years for a film adaptation of the extremely popular musical Wicked and finally, that dream is set to become a reality on Friday.

Wicked, staring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, tells the story behind The Wizard of Oz before Dorothy Gale’s arrival on the scene. The show, and soon to be movie, follows Elphaba before she becomes the Wicked Witch of the West and her friendship with Glinda the Good Witch during their time at school.

While Wicked the movie may clock in at over two hours and 40 minutes — approximately the same run time as the musical — fans will have to wait until next year for the second part of the story, as the 2024 film will cover just Act 1 of the show. The decision is a controversial one, but was seemingly made so nothing major was cut from the final product.

Plus, according to director Jon M. Chu, trying to follow up the climactic showstopper “Defying Gravity” that ends Act 1 was an exercise in futility.

“The truth is we tried for some time to make it one movie, even if it had to be one very long movie. But we kept running into two problems. The first is that even as a very long single movie, it required us cutting or omitting things that we wanted to include and that we think fans of the show and the story will appreciate.

Secondly, we found it very difficult to get past ‘Defying Gravity’ without a break. That song is written specifically to bring a curtain down, and whatever scene to follow it without a break just seemed hugely anti-climactic. So, for these two reasons, plus the excitement of doing something that’s never been done before with a musical, we have decided to do two movies.

Of course, when it’s all done, if it doesn’t work that way, we’ll have to figure something out. But we strongly believe that this is what’s best for our story, our show, and our fans.”

So, now you know!