“As we prepared the production over the last year, it became impossible to wrestle the story of ‘Wicked’ into a single film without doing some real damage to it. As we tried to cut songs or trim characters, those decisions began to feel like fatal compromises to the source material that has entertained us all for so many years. We decided to give ourselves a bigger canvas and make not just one ‘Wicked’ movie but two! With more space, we can tell the story of ‘Wicked’ as it was meant to be told while bringing even more depth and surprise to the journeys for these beloved characters.”

Wicked is the follow up to Chu’s In The Heights It stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande as Elphaba and Glinda respectively. Originating as a Broadway musical that debuted in 2003, Wicked is a prequel to the Wizard of Oz and chronicles life as Dorothy knew it leading up to her arrival in the magical place. No other actors have been cast yet other than Grande and Erivo. Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth originated the roles on the Broadway stage.

Stephen Schwartz is adapting the Wicked screenplay along Winnie Holzman. Marc Platt will be producing the film.