27 November 2025, 10:44

By Sam Prance

Wicked: For Good has received mixed reviews from critics but Jon M. Chu believes it was necessary to make two films.

Wicked: For Good director Jon M. Chu has explained why he split Wicked into two films following criticism from fans.

As soon as Jon M. Chu announced in 2022 that Wicked would be split into two movies, fans were concerned that the decision would negatively impact the adaptation. 2024’s Wicked received widespread critical acclaim. Nevertheless, people were unsure if the second act, which has always been divisive among fans, could hold its own as a movie.

Since Wicked: For Good came out, the film has received mixed reviews from critics. While the performances and set pieces have been praised, some viewers have criticised the pacing and argued that Wicked would have been better served as one movie. Now, Jon M. Chu has defended his choice to adapt Wicked into two films instead of one.

Watch the final Wicked: For Good trailer

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Jon revealed that was a long-running debate at Universal over whether Wicked should be one movie or two. Scripts for both options were drafted and there was even a suggestion of making one movie with an interval but Jon remained steadfast that Wicked deserved to be two movies.

Explaining his choice, Jon said: “If we were asking people to believe in the stakes, the emotional stakes, the real-life stakes of these two women, then we needed the time to understand what was at stake. What was their childhood like? What were they being taught, and what was shattered in front of them?”

In other words, Jon split the films to add extra context into Elphaba and Glinda’s childhoods. The first film features flashbacks to young Elphaba and the second film features flashbacks to young Glinda.

The original Wicked musical is 2 hours and 30 minutes with a 15 minute interval. As for both movies, Wicked is 2 hours and 40 minutes and Wicked: For Good is 2 hours and 17 minutes.

Back in 2022, Jon penned a long statement discussing the decision to make two films. He wrote: “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…”

He 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.”

Jon concluded saying: “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.”

What do you think? Did Wicked need splitting into two movies?

Read more Wicked news here:

Wicked Cast vs. ‘The Most Impossible Wicked Quiz’

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