'Wicked' movie will be split into two parts

In order to make sure the entirety of the story of ‘Wicked’ is told, the upcoming movie will be split into Part 1 and Part 2, according to director Jon M. Chu.

Chu released the following statement to his Twitter account:

The film currently stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. No other casting has been announced and production is set to begin this year.

The Broadway gem, which has been running since 2003, is based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 fairy tale revisionist novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which was also inspired by the 1939 MGM classic The Wizard of Oz film.

The musical is a prequel tale from the point of view of good and bad witches, Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda, The Good Witch.

Wicked is the second-highest-grossing show on Broadway to date, earning up to $1 billion in gross sales in 2016. Its first run starred famous belters Idina Menzel as Elphaba and Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda.

NewsChristopher Peterson