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Stephen Schwartz<\/strong>, the composer behind the fan-favorite musical Wicked<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, is revealing why the film has been split into two parts.<\/p>\n If you missed the news, the film, starring Ariana Grande<\/strong><\/a> as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo<\/strong><\/a> as Elphaba, will be a two-part movie. The first part will be released in theaters on November 27, 2024 with Part Two following on November 26, 2025.<\/p>\n Head inside to find out\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Stephen <\/strong>revealed the reason why the Jon M. Chu<\/strong> film will be made into two parts, despite it obviously being a one-part show that has played on Broadway for over a decade.<\/p>\n \u201cWe found it very difficult to get past \u2018Defying Gravity\u2019<\/a> without a break,\u201d he once told fan newsletter The Schwartz Scene<\/a>. \u201cThat song is written specifically to bring a curtain down, and whatever scene to follow it without a break just seemed hugely anti-climactic.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe truth is we tried for some time to make it one movie, even if it had to be one very long movie,\u201d he added. \u201cBut we kept running into two problems. The first is that even as a very long single movie, it required us cutting or omitting things that we wanted to include and that we think fans of the show and the story will appreciate.\u201d The second reason, as he explained it, came down to the show-stopper number, and the inability for what comes at the beginning of Act 2 to escape its gravitational pull.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, for these two reasons,\u201d Schwartz <\/strong>continued, \u201cplus the excitement of doing something that\u2019s never been done before with a musical, we have decided to do two movies. Of course, when it\u2019s all done, if it doesn\u2019t work that way, we\u2019ll have to figure something out. But we strongly believe that this is what\u2019s best for our story, our show, and our fans.\u201d<\/p>\n Additionally, he added \u201cWhat we have discussed is that changes need to be \u2018additive,\u2019 to use (producer) Marc Platt<\/strong>\u2019s term. They need to add something to the story or the characters. They can\u2019t just be changes to do something different. I feel confident that by the time the movie is made, if we all continue to have the same degree of input, I could have a conversation with anyone who has a question about any of the changes made from the stage show and justify why I think it\u2019s better for the movie.\u201d<\/p>\n Watch the film\u2019s trailer<\/a>, which just dropped!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n