Wicked Director Gave Studio An Ultimatum When Universal Contemplated Splitting Into Two Parts

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Wicked Director Gave Studio An Ultimatum When Universal Contemplated Splitting Into Two Parts


Wicked director Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians) had to fight with the studio to create a more stable vision for the franchise. The movie borrows from a variety of inspirations, inclduing the hit Broadway musical, Gregory Maguire’s book, and the classic movie. Yet, for all that it ties into The Wizard of Oz, Chu’s movie is a break from the original musical and everything that inspired it. That change largely relates to its long runtime and the decision to split it into multiple movies.

With so many potential routes to take the story, it was inevitable that there would be some conflict between the studio and the director. In an interview with Gizmodo, however, Chu explained that the debate largely related to the structure of the movies itself. Universal could not decide if it would be one movie or two, and Chu was eventually left to issue an ultimatum about the project’s quality. The studio relented, leading to the two-part release. Check out his quote below:

Yes for sure. [Universal] was dancing back and forth and I think that was part of the problem of getting it started. They kept going “Oh it’s one movie, no it’s two movies.” I had to come and be like, “We need to make a choice with this.” You cannot make a good one movie or two movies by dancing back and forth. Commit to two movies right now, otherwise, we’re never making those two movies good. I promise you that. We can always change our minds, but we cannot think about it right now. That’s what we committed to. And once you commit to that, then you can pull this thing apart and find what we need to. The plot holes we need to fill, and the things we need to build to build up to “Defying Gravity.” So that was a big choice.

What Splitting Wicked Meant For The Movies

It Gave Wicked Time To Grow

The first Wicked movie ends with “Defying Gravity”, which also served as the final song in the musical’s first half. By the end credits, Elphaba has already turned on the Wizard and earned the name “The Wicked Witch of the West” after moving outside of Emerald City’s control. With Elphaba having pulled away, the audience was left with a massive cliffhanger that will not be resolved until Part 2 is released on November 21, 2025. That could have drawn criticism, but the movie has instead been met with a positive reception on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes:

Title

Tomatometer Score

Popcornmeter Score

Wicked (2024)

89%

97%

Had the movie been a single release, it might have led to significant narrative crunch. It would certainly have been possible, as the Broadway musical sits at two hours and 30 minutes. By contrast, the first movie alone is 10 minutes longer. With the sequel, it will likely be double the original’s length. The added space allowed Chu to feature a deeper connection between Elphaba and Glinda with extended and added scenes. There are no new songs on the Wicked soundtrack, so limiting the timeline would have meant cutting major numbers.

Our Take On The Wicked Director’s Ultimatum

Chu Did The Right Thing For His Movie

An inconsistent vision could be a death knell for any movie. Chu wanted nothing more than to see his project receive consistency, so that production could begin without delay or backtracking. With a $310 million budget for the two movies, faltering could mean a ballooning budget and a messy production. As it stands, Wicked has received a positive reception, earning an A CinemaScore rating and a massive $117 million opening weekend. Had Chu not been firm with Universal, the inconsistency could have led to a longer production and a disastrous reception. As it stands, the movie is a critical darling.

Source: Gizmodo



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