As a long-time admirer of both the stage and screen adaptations of beloved stories, I find myself eagerly anticipating the release of “Wicked” in 2024. Having grown up with the original novel by Gregory Maguire and later falling in love with the Broadway musical, I am thrilled to see how this cinematic adaptation will breathe new life into Oz’s enchanting world.
The highly-anticipated movie adaption of the hit stage musical “Wicked,” based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,” is slated for release in 2024, with its runtime now disclosed. Fans should prepare to settle in as they embark on this magical journey that revisits characters from L. Frank Baum’s original novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” This year will see the premiere of the first half of the tale, with the sequel scheduled for November 2025.
It appears that Fandango has disclosed the runtime for “Wicked” as 2 hours and 40 minutes. This length is typical for a film based on a Broadway musical, considering that both “Les Miserables” (2012) and “The Color Purple” ran for approximately 2 hours and 38 minutes and 2 hours and 20 minutes respectively. However, these were full adaptations of the stage plays. The original Broadway production of “Wicked,” on the other hand, usually runs for 2 hours and 35 minutes. Thus, the movie adaptation that only covers half of the story is actually longer than the entire Broadway musical performance.
Wicked Could Be Adding More Story from the Novel
Although some may roll their eyes at Wicked‘s running time, being longer than the stage performance yet only covering half of the story, it’s important to recognize that the Broadway musical did have to leave out several aspects from the 1995 novel. The upcoming film adaptation of Wicked, however, aims to include additional elements of the narrative that the musical on stage was unable to portray. Extended runtime in Wicked will likely foster a deeper exploration of the friendship between Elphaba (Cynthia Ervino) and Galinda (Ariana Grande) before they transform into The Wicked Witch and The Good Witch of the North.
Breaking a well-known tale into two sections is a common practice in filmmaking, providing more scope than compressing or eliminating significant portions of content. However, this approach can lead to a movie feeling incomplete and like only half a story. A notable example is Dune, which was divided into two parts. Both installments received positive reviews and were successful at the box office, but some viewers criticized Dune – Part One for being nearly three hours of setup. Similarities exist between Dune and Wicked, as both books have similar page counts; Wicked has 406 pages, while Dune’s is 412 pages. With an abundance of material from the Land of Oz for Wicked to pull from, the question remains whether this will enrich the story or make it overly bloated by adapting the musical into a three-hour film instead.
The second part of “Wicked” is set to premiere in theaters on November 21, 2025, following its predecessor which opens on November 22, 2024.
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2024-09-29 18:33