Jon M. Chu took to his social media accounts to announce that his upcoming adaptation of "Wicked" will be split into two films.
"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 added, "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."
Ariana Grande will star as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba.
The screenplay will be adapted by Stephen Schwartz, who wrote the music and lyrics to the Broadway show, alongside Winnie Holzman. Marc Platt will also be reprising his Broadway role as producer.
The first installment of "Wicked" will be released on Wednesday, December 25, 2024, with the second movie being released on Thursday, December 25, 2025.
