Jon M. Chu explains whyWickeddoes not include Part One in its title. Based on the megahit Broadway musical of the same name, the movie version ofWickedwas released in theaters on November 22. Despite its 2 hours and 40-minute run time, however,Wickeddoes not tell the full story but rather stops at the end of the musical’s act one.Wicked: Part Twois in development and is set for release on August 05, 2025.Wickedfeatures a leading castincluding Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, and Marissa Bode.
Speaking withGizmodo, Chu explains whyWicked’s title does not include a “part one” label. Chu begins by mentioning that “marketing has its own strategy for all those things.” Despite this,the director feels that he was pretty clear that he was making a two-part film, and confident that this was the right decision. As such, he let marketing do their thing to decide how best to sell the film that he was confident in. Chu also explains the difficulty of making theWickedtrailers show different songs from the movie. Check out the full quote from Chu below:
Chu: I mean, marketing has its own strategy for all those things. I think we were pretty clear that there are two parts from the very beginning. I had a statement, did the whole thing, everyone reacted. I knew that there was going to be a certain reaction. But I also knew that when you actually look at the nuts and bolts of it, it was very clear. There was no question. Either it’s not Wicked and you’re stripping out all these songs or you’re changing the story so much that it’s not going to be the Wicked that you want. I knew we were making the right choice, so we went along with that and marketing—how they do it, I don’t know how they do it. But I understood what those choices were.
And I felt like everybody knew it was a musical anyway. We had musical trailers and things like that. What people don’t think about, and this is difficult, is when you’re actually cutting a trailer, when you have music in there and they’re singing, moving their mouths, all the songs are in different keys. And how do you jump from one song to another in an organic, trailer way, where you only have two minutes to do it? It’s actually, technically, very difficult. And they were dancing at different rhythms and things. It becomes a mess very quickly. So even the ones we did release, I thought it was impossible to cut all those songs together. And they found certain things and they had to pitch things differently and it’s not exactly how I would love to do it, but it does connect the songs and you need to do that. But it’s technically very challenging. It’s not just a choice that, “Oh, we can’t.” How do you go from “The Wizard and I” to “Defying Gravity” without changing the key? It’s very difficult.
What This Means For Wicked
Wicked’s Trailer Was Clear About Its Musical Status
Chu is right that most savvy audiences would knowWickedis a two-part film, as this point was emphasized in its early publicity. Audiences who have just seen theWickedtrailer, however, would not have a reason to think thatWickedwas only the first installment of a two-part musical adaptation. This could risk disappointing some audiences, asWickedendson a cliffhanger. Luckily for the film, this cliffhanger is the rousing “Defying Gravity,” but it is unresolved nonetheless.
WhileWonkaandMean Girlsmay have wanted to broaden their audiences by obscuring their musical nature,Wickedis such a popular musical anyway, so its musical nature should be highlighted.
Chu does point out, however, that theWickedtrailersensured that “everybody knew it was a musical.“This much has not been the case with the marketing of other recent movie musicals. BothWonkaandMean Girlsincluded trailers with little to no singing, leaving some audiences surprised to learn that these films were musicals. The decision to emphasizeWicked’s songs in the trailer represents a change in this trend for modern movie musicals. Instead of hiding its identity,Wicked’s marketing embraced its musical roots.
One reason for this alternative publicity strategy is that,forWicked, its status as a musical is a selling point rather than a detractor.WhileWonkaandMean Girlsmay have wanted to broaden their audiences by obscuring their musical nature,Wickedis such a popular musical anyway, so its musical nature should be highlighted. Not to mention it features Grande, a prominent pop music star, so those who see her in the trailer would expect her to be in a role that involves singing.
Our Take On Wicked’s Title
Though Chu seems confident in his decision to makeWickedinto two parts, his statement does not clearly justify why the film was marketed this way. While the publicity trail did not hide the fact that it was in two parts, the title and trailer decision might have been made to make audiences feel like they were getting the fullWickedexperience at the theater.
What This Means For Wicked: Part Two
It Will Need The Subtitle For Clarity
While this marketing may have made sense for the first installment ofWicked, this puts the franchise in an interesting position forWicked: Part Two.They cannot market the second-act adaptation as justWickedwithout creating confusionor looking like an instant reboot. There is a recent precedent for planned part ones not using the subtitle distinction that was then employed by their latter halves. Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 adaptation ofDunedid this, as it is only referred to asDune: Part Oneretroactively after the release of this year’sDune: Part Two.
Because ofDune’s model, it would not be that unusual forWickedto also reserve the subtitle forWicked: Part Two. Whereas aPart Oneadd-on may have minimized the audience slightly, the hope would be that this year’sWickedwill be successful enough to giveWicked: Part Twothe viewership momentum it needs. The early audience reactions toWickedhave been overwhelmingly positive, which means that box office success is likely to follow suit for the musical adaptation. The more successful this installment is, the better chancesWicked: Part Twohas at the box office.
Wicked
Cast
Wicked adapts the Broadway musical into a two-part film, following the unlikely friendship between Elphaba, born with green skin, and Glinda, a popular aristocrat, in the Land of Oz. As they navigate their contrasting paths, they evolve into Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.
