Why Wicked Doesn't Include Part One In The Title Explained By Director: "I Think We Were Pretty Clear" (2024)

Jon M. Chu explains why Wicked does not include Part One in its title. Based on the megahit Broadway musical of the same name, the movie version of Wicked was released in theaters on November 22. Despite its 2 hours and 40-minute run time, however, Wicked does not tell the full story but rather stops at the end of the musical's act one. Wicked: Part Two is in development and is set for release on November 21, 2025. Wicked features a leading cast including Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, and Marissa Bode.

Speaking with Gizmodo, Chu explains why Wicked'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 the Wicked trailers 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 know Wicked is a two-part film, as this point was emphasized in its early publicity. Audiences who have just seen the Wicked trailer, however, would not have a reason to think that Wicked was only the first installment of a two-part musical adaptation. This could risk disappointing some audiences, as Wicked ends on a cliffhanger. Luckily for the film, this cliffhanger is the rousing "Defying Gravity," but it is unresolved nonetheless.

Chu does point out, however, that the Wicked trailersensured that "everybody knew it was a musical." This much has not been the case with the marketing of other recent movie musicals. Both Wonka and Mean Girls included trailers with little to no singing, leaving some audiences surprised to learn that these films were musicals. The decision to emphasize Wicked'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, for Wicked, its status as a musical is a selling point rather than a detractor. While Wonka and Mean Girls may have wanted to broaden their audiences by obscuring their musical nature, Wicked is 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

Wicked's Marketing Team Had A Lot To Think About

Though Chu seems confident in his decision to make Wicked into 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 full Wicked experience 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 of Wicked, this puts the franchise in an interesting position for Wicked: Part Two. They cannot market the second-act adaptation as just Wicked without creating confusion or 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 of Dune did this, as it is only referred to as Dune: Part One retroactively after the release of this year's Dune: Part Two.

Because of Dune's model, it would not be that unusual for Wicked to also reserve the subtitle for Wicked: Part Two. Whereas a Part One add-on may have minimized the audience slightly, the hope would be that this year's Wicked will be successful enough to give Wicked: Part Two the viewership momentum it needs. The early audience reactions to Wicked have 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 chances Wicked: Part Two has at the box office.

Source: Gizmodo

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9/10

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8.3/10

Wicked

PG

Adventure

Fantasy

Musical

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.

Director

Jon M. Chu

Release Date

November 22, 2024

Studio(s)

Marc Platt Productions

Distributor(s)

Universal Pictures

Writers

Gregory Maguire , Winnie Holzman , Dana Fox , L. Frank Baum

Cast

Cynthia Erivo , Ariana Grande , Michelle Yeoh , Jeff Goldblum , Jonathan Bailey , Ethan Slater , Marissa Bode , Bowen Yang , Bronwyn James , Keala Settle , Peter Dinklage , Aaron Teoh , Grecia De la Paz , Colin Michael Carmichael , Adam James , Andy Nyman , Courtney Mae-Briggs , Sharon D. Clarke , Jenna Boyd

Character(s)

Elphaba Thropp , Glinda Upland , Madame Morrible , The Wizard , Fiyero Tigelaar , Boq , Nessarose Thropp , Pfannee , ShenShen , Miss Coddle , Doctor Dillamond (voice) , Avaric Tenmeadows , Gilligan , Professor Nikidik , Glinda's Father , Governor Frexspar Thropp , Melena Thropp , The Midwife

Runtime

160 Minutes

Main Genre

Musical