How long is Wicked? Here's why Part 1's movie runtime is longer than the entire musical

25 November 2024, 15:08

By Sam Prance

Wicked: Part I only tells half the story of Wicked the musical and director Jon M. Chu has defended the length.

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Wicked: Part I is officially here. How long is the runtime though and how does it compare to the musical it's based on?

As soon as the Wicked movie was first announced, fans were desperate to find out how director Jon M. Chu would fit everything from the stage musical into a movie runtime. The musical is already long in and of its own accord and every scene is vital to the story. As a result, fans feared that iconic moments might be cut for time.

However, Jon M. Chu has avoided that issue by splitting Wicked into two films, ensuring that nothing key is left out. Wicked: Part I ends when Wicked, Act I ends with Elphaba and Glinda singing the beloved song 'Defying Gravity'.

With that in mind, we're here to let you know how long Wicked: Part I is if you're interested in booking tickets.

Read more: Wicked's Ariana Grande points out 'Popular' lyric mistake after error goes viral
Read more: Wicked's Cynthia Erivo slams "deeply hurtful" Elphaba poster edits

How long is Wicked the musical?

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande sang live on Wicked

How long is Wicked: Part I?

Wicked: Part I stands at 2 hours and 40 minutes in total making it 10 minutes longer than the stage musical it's based on. The original Wicked musical stands at 2 hours and 30 minutes with a 15 minute interval separating acts one and two. For reference the first act is 1 hour and 30 minutes with the second act totalling just one hour.

So why is Wicked: Part I 10 minutes longer than the entire stage musical? Well, fans of Wicked will already know that it's based on a book by Gregory Maguire and Jon M. Chu wanted to make sure that the movie included details that were left out of the musical due to time.

Defending the runtime, Jon M. Chu told The Hollywood Reporter: "If you’re going to end on a 'Defying Gravity', then you have Elphaba that needs to be the most pivotal moment of her life. So you need to set up Elphaba more than maybe the show does."

He added: "You need to see what her childhood was like. … And how do you build that friendship? In the medium of movie, you call bull---t on things so fast, you have to have the time and the space to believe in that relationship."

Jon ended by saying: "I think when you see the movie, it’ll all make more sense."

Special #Wicked Movie Announcement… ✌🏼🎬🧹🌸💚sent from my OzPhone: pic.twitter.com/4qPpvVD4rR
— Jon M. Chu (@jonmchu) April 26, 2022

Why is Wicked two parts?

In 2022, Jon M. Chu released a statement expanding on the reason behind Wicked becoming two films. He explained: "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 ..."

Jon continued: "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!"

Jon ended by 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."

How long is Wicked: Part 2?

As it stands, Universal Pictures are yet to reveal the runtime of Wicked: Part II. However, it seems likely that the movie will be longer than Act II of the musical. Similar to the first movie, we imagine that they will work to fit in extra details that were cut from the books.

Bookmark this page and we'll let you know as soon as we have an official Wicked: Part II runtime.