„Wicked: For Good“ concludes Universal Picture’s the two-part musical starring Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum.
The witches are back to finish what they started.
Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande reprise their roles as Elphaba and Glinda in „Wicked: For Good“, the conclusion to last year’s box office hit. „Wicked“, adapted from the Broadway musical and based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 fantasy novel, tells the story of the Wicked Witch of the West leading up to the events of „The Wizard of Oz“ — except the Wicked Witch of the West isn’t evil. In fact, she’s a heroine, an outcast in society for her green skin only to become a powerful sorceress fighting against injustice in Oz.
Universal Pictures raised eyebrows when it announced it was releasing the musical adaptation into two parts, something that’s never been done before. Classic musicals like „My Fair Lady“, „The Sound of Music“ and „Fiddler on the Roof“ had roughly three-hour running times but included an intermission.
Meanwhile, the first „Wicked“, which depicted Act I, had a two-hour and 40-minute running time (roughly the length of the entire stage musical — including the intermission!) and „For Good“, which covers Act II, is another two hours and 18 minutes, and is still more than twice as long as Act II on Broadway.
If you look at what „Wicked“ made last year at the box office (over $750 million worldwide), it’s clear why Universal was incentivized to milk the popular musical for all its worth and make two movies out of it.
