When Is “Wicked: Part Two” Out? What to Expect in the Movie's Second Act

From the cast to the release date, here’s everything to know about 'Wicked: Part Two'

One Wicked movie just isn’t enough!

While audiences are already traveling to the Land of Oz with the release of Wicked: Part One on Nov. 22, they'll have to wait one year to witness how Elphaba and Glinda's stories end. In April 2022, director Jon M. Chu announced on X (formerly Twitter) that the film adaptation of the long-running Broadway musical — which was an adaptation of Gregory Maguire’s 1995 book Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West — would be split into two parts.

“As we prepared this production over last year, it became increasingly clear that it would be impossible to wrestle the story of WICKED into a single film without doing some real damage to it,” the Crazy Rich Asians director wrote, noting that the damage would have involved cutting songs or trimming characters. 

“So 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 of these beloved characters,” he wrote.  

With Wicked, which stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda, now in theatres, more details are coming out about what Wicked: Part Two will entail. Here’s everything to know about Wicked’s second act.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Wicked: Part One. 

Why is Wicked in two parts? 

Screenwriter Winnie Holzman told ScreenRant in November 2024 that there were “long conversations” between her, Chu, composer Stephen Schwartz and producer Marc Platt about whether or not to split Wicked into two parts. Eventually, they all agreed there was “too much story for one movie.” 

“We wanted the fun, and the whole artistic fulfillment of being able to make these movies was to be able to explore our story and our characters with a little bit more depth,” Holzman said. “As we're doing that, it's adding up. And nobody wanted to cut any songs — in fact, we wanted to add songs.”

This decision means that Wicked also follows the original Broadway production’s two-part act. Just as the song “Defying Gravity” closes the curtain on Act 1 on stage, it also signals the end of the first movie. Schwartz said that iconic number was also a part of the decision to break the film into two parts. 

“We found it very difficult to get past ‘Defying Gravity’ without a break,” the composer told a fan newsletter called The Schwartz Scene in 2022. “That song is written specifically to bring a curtain down, and whatever scene to follow it without a break just seemed hugely anti-climactic.”

What is Wicked: Part Two about?

Wicked is expected to follow a similar plot structure as the Broadway musical. The first Wicked movie is a prequel to the 1939 Judy Garland movie The Wizard of Oz, while the second details the same events of the film but from the perspective of Elphaba.

“The first tells how Elphaba becomes the Wicked Witch of the West,” Marc Platt wrote in production notes, “and the second tells how her best friend, Glinda, becomes authentically good."

In a November 2024 interview with ScreenRant, Chu teased the potential of The Wizard of Oz protagonist Dorothy Gale being involved in Wicked: Part Two.

“In movie 1, it was important to let Dorothy be how you want her to be. I didn't want to step on your images of whatever version of Dorothy you wanted her to be,” the director said. “But the presence is important because that plays a significant role in what will happen and how they intersect ... But you'll have to see movie 2 to know how far we go with her.”

Which cast members are returning for Wicked: Part Two?

Though Deadline did confirm in June 2023 that Erivo and Grande will return to their roles of Elphaba and Glinda, respectively, only a few details about the rest of the Wicked: Part Two cast have been announced.

Both movies were filmed at the same time, so there’s a good chance the cast of Wicked — including Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater, Jeff Goldblum and Marissa Bode — will appear in the second movie as their characters do in Act 2 of the Broadway musical. 

When did filming finish?

Filming for the two-part live-action adaptation of Wicked wrapped in January 2024. Erivo confirmed the news on Instagram with a photo of her silhouette in Elphaba’s costume suspended by wires in mid-air. 

“I’ve been trying to think of what I’d say when this day finally came,” the actress wrote in the caption. “THIS moment, this film, these people, this cast, this crew, this director, my Glinda, were the Grandest gift I could ever have asked for, and I am eternally grateful for the chance to bring you This Elphie."

She continued, “I hope when you meet her, you’ll love her as much and as fiercely as I do. And with that I say, that’s a wrap for me, Elphie out!!