Wicked: For Good has revealed its runtime ahead of its release in cinemas on November 21, confirming that the sequel will clock in at more than 20 minutes shorter than the first movie. The highly-anticipated musical sequel sees Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo reprise their roles as Glinda and Elphaba, respectively.

Wicked 2 clocks in at an impressive 2 hours and 17 minutes, making it the shortest movie of the two, behind Wicked, which has a runtime of 2 hours and 40 minutes.

According to the bbfc, the sequel totals a runtime of 137 minutes 21 seconds, making it nearly 23 minutes shorter than its predecessor.

The upcoming film, which has already broken records and wowed critics, sees the action pick up where we left off in the first movie after Elphaba and Glinda’s emotional separation.

The logline reads: “In this musical fantasy sequel, the friendship of two witches is seriously tested when one of them is branded as ‘wicked’ by magical authorities.”

Related: Best streaming services

Returning to join Erivo and Grande in the star-studded cast are Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh and Marissa Bode.

Speaking recently about the sequel, director Jon M Chu opened up about the decision he made to cut an iconic song from the musical from the film’s opening scene.

In an interview with Collider, the director said he planned to open the sequel with a recap of ‘Defying Gravity’ but changed his mind after the first test screening.

Related: “What a legend!”: Wicked 2 reveals surprise Netflix star voicing the Cowardly Lion

“What I had done in that first screening was I dropped us back into ‘Defying Gravity’. We ended ‘Defying Gravity’ again, and we then catapulted in, just to get people back in it,” he said.

He continued: “What I found out is we don’t need it. We don’t need to go back. I thought people needed to be reminded of the feelings of that relationship before coming into this relationship, where they’re not together anymore, but after that screening, I was like, ‘Oh, we just want to jump in. People are on it with us’.”

Wicked: For Good is released in cinemas on 21 November.

The new edition of Living Legends is here! Buy Ariana & Witches in newsagents or online, priced at just £8.99.

Reporter, Digital Spy

Harriet is a freelance news writer specialising in TV and movies at Digital Spy. 

A horror enthusiast, she joined Digital Spy after working on her own horror website, reviewing films and focusing largely on feminism in the genre. 

In her spare time, Harriet paints and produces mixed-media art. She graduated from the University of Kingston with a BA in fine art, where she specialised in painting. She also has an MA in journalism from Birkbeck University.