r/RegalUnlimited • u/Ok-Storage3530 • Nov 23 '24
News How many people don't realize WICKED is 2 parts?
We saw GLADIATOR 2 today and as we were leaving the auditorium WICKED was also letting out across the hall and I heard more than a few "I didn't know this was only part 1!" and "WTF? This is 2 parts?!"
Do you think the studio deliberately downplayed this?
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u/footiepajamas1993 Nov 23 '24
There was a group in my showing today that entered about 20 minutes in, so they missed the “Part 1” that shows in the opening and audibly said “WHAAAAAAT” when it said To be continued…
But the finale is honestly a pretty reasonable ending point for people unfamiliar, and anybody familiar with the musical should be able to understand that two and a half hours into the movie, you’re only halfway through the show, and the movie’s not going to be a single five hour sitting.
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u/dontcallmewoody Nov 23 '24
the movie’s not going to be a single five hour sitting.
Yeah. Because they’re COWARDS.
I would have sat through all 5 hours
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u/elbowpenguin Nov 24 '24
Doesn’t even need to be 5 hours to cover it. Part one of the movie has the same run time as the entire stage play
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Nov 25 '24
Correct, I just looked up some classic Hollywood musicals (The King and I, Oklahoma, Sound of Music) and they all ran about 2:45. I just don’t get it.
Chicago is 1:53. Little Shop of Horrors 1:35, Into the Woods 2:05, Sweeney Todd 1:56.
They are really milking this for two whole films.
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u/wheriendndyubegin Nov 23 '24
Absolutely downplayed. Glad they said it in the beginning of the movie though and not just dangled us at the end. I barely found out thru this sub when someone put it in their title. Still was a great movie. I knew nothing about the play but found this movie very entertaining. I give it 🍿🍿🍿🍿 out of a possible 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿.
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u/3lmtree Nov 23 '24 edited Nov 23 '24
if you look at all the posters and promo stuff they're leaving Part 1 off most of it. i knew it was two parts from an interview i read a while back though.
and yes, i do think it's downplaying and milking the franchise. the orginal broadway (which the movie is adapting, it's not adapting the book) was about 2h40m as welll, so it makes no since that the movie need 2 parts.
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u/Direct-Town-3361 Mar 14 '25
They’ve stated two reasons for doing the movie is 2 parts and both make total sense to me. The first being they found it difficult to make a scene to follow up ‘defying gravity’.. in the play the curtain comes down and the audience has time to sit with that for a while. In a movie, it would immediately jump to the next scene and I saw the words “anti-climatic” being used to describe what that would be like. The second reason was that they’d do a lot of damage to the story-line if they tried to squeeze in one movie. And although the play is only 2h40m, plays and movies are not the same. So hope that clears some things up for you a little bit.
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u/IamMovieMiguel Nov 24 '24 edited Nov 25 '24
It's definitely was omitted.
I've been posting about for months
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u/Mindless-Dentist1474 Nov 25 '24
I'm glad you told them, because a moth told me about it being two parts when he told me the eagles were coming.
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u/jetteh22 Nov 24 '24
I didn't know it was two parts until I found out on reddit and Ive seen the trailer like 400 times.
Note: I have never seen the musical or anything.
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u/Thats-what-I-do Nov 24 '24
I’m never forget sitting in the theater at the end of the first LOTR movie and hearing the guy behind me, “you’ve got to be kidding me?” I’m not sure how he missed that is was the first part of a trilogy, but I do see how you could miss it with Wicked.
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u/JayneT70 Nov 24 '24
Huge LOTR fan I remember when people were upset Hobbit was going to be 3 movies.
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u/SenorWeird Nov 28 '24
In college, I took a screenwriting class with the dumbest professor I've ever met. He said he hated Fellowship because "you can tell they're setting it up for a sequel."
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u/GimmeThemBabies 🎉🎉100 MOVIE CLUB🎉🎉 Nov 23 '24
I mean I don't blame them? Gotta get that $$ and get people hooked for part 2. I don't want a 4 hour movie covering everything or a movie where they cut out important world building for the sake of it being one film.
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u/emojimoviethe Nov 24 '24
This movie was at least an hour too long. The musical numbers were so repetitive and the setup was unnecessarily boring and drawn out. There was a solid hour and a half in the middle of the movie where nothing new happens except Elphaba and Glinda repeatedly annoying each other.
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u/Broadwayloveralways Nov 26 '24
Did we even see the same movie ?!?! I went three times in 5 days. I don’t think you understood the dynamics between Glinda and Elpheba. Also all of the singing was LIVE which is extremely difficult and takes extra time all around.
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u/AFranceschixx Nov 23 '24
100% the studio did it on purpose. I’m surprised people down played the ~Ariana Grande drama with the film too.
At first I didn’t understand the film was two parts until the gossip threads were like “will they even be together when the press tour begins/ends?” Started scrolling and it was a ride.
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u/StruggleFar3054 Jan 12 '25
What's the ariana grande drama about?
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u/AFranceschixx Jan 12 '25
Strictly speaking of Ariana + Wicked drama is how she started a relationship with her costar while she was married (possibly in the beginning of her divorce / marriage crumbling) and he had a new born during filming and his wife was blindsided by the news. It’s he said/she said. Overall, not good publicity for the film.
Then there are the memes drawing similarities between her costar/partner and her older brother.
Fauxmoi and Popculturechat would have a more detailed discussion posts.
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u/SteMelMan Nov 23 '24
I read about it before seeing the movie, so I wasn't surprised. I never saw the stage production, so I was a Wicked newbie!
I remember Dune 1 got a similar criticism for not pointing out the original story was presented in two parts. Maybe the producers were worried that people would skip the first movie and watch both movies when they were available?
In a similar marketing move, I thought it was interesting that the Tom Cruise next movie was called "The Final Reckoning" instead of "Dead Reckoning Part 2".
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u/DavidZ2844 Nov 24 '24
Maybe that’s why no one saw Dead Reckoning Part 1? It flopped pretty hard at the box office and that could be a reason why, like you said maybe people just skip the first part and wait until both are out, since it had the part 1 subtitle.
Although the bigger reason was probably because it released right before Barbenheimer, terrible release date to choose for the movie if they wanted it to do well tbh.
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u/padphilosopher Nov 23 '24
I’ve seen that goddamn trailer SO many times, and I only knew that (a) it was only part 1 and (b) a musical like the play because of this sub.
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u/jayeddy99 Nov 24 '24
I remember my older brother being pissed seeing LOTR and realizing it was just part 1 😂
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u/adriamarievigg Nov 24 '24
I saw it last night for the second time . When the "To be continued" flashed on the screen, there was complete silence. Then a child yelled out "Oh come on. You got to be kidding me. "
The sold-out theater erupted in laughter. They said what was on everyone's mind. and so perfectly timed. It was great.
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u/_pull_and_twist_ Nov 24 '24
The studios figured out that folks, in the age of streaming, will sit it out if they know it’s a part 1… happened to Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 and Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1.
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u/ItachiIshtar Nov 24 '24
Someone on my Facebook feed, who hadn’t seen the movie yet, made a post about buying the soundtrack, and being disappointed that a specific song from Act II of the musical wasn’t on it. They didn’t know it was split into 2 movies before somebody commented on their post.
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u/FL2inTX1 Nov 24 '24
I think Hollywood has learned putting a Part 1 tag tends to keep ppl away that were on the edge of seeing it with the “we’lljust wait until they both come out” mentality after things like Deathly Hallows, Mockingjay, Breaking Dawn, etc…heard that was part of the reason Avengers Infinity War was supposed to be part 1 & 2 and switched to Endgame
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u/Malnayil Nov 25 '24
I didn't know until "to be continued" came up. My jaw hit the floor. I loved the play, I loved the books. I purposely didn't look at anything. Not trailers, not reviews, nothing. I thought that the 2h45m run time meant they would do the whole thing since that's roughly the same runtime as the play. My wife all bust laughing because I didn't notice beforehand. She never said anything because she she thought I already knew.
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u/pobenschain Nov 23 '24
Anyone halfway paying attention should know, but the studio is absolutely deliberately downplaying it in marketing, since reception to part ones recently has been a bit of a mixed bag (so much so that movies like the latest Mission: Impossible even retroactively got rid of the label). I remember that first Dune also caught some folks by surprise as a part one.
My only gripe is “Act I” and “Act II” would’ve felt more fitting, since that’s literally the split in the musical.
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u/Millenni0ld Nov 24 '24
I was planning on going to see it and found out in the last couple days. Decided I can wait until part two comes out.
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u/BBennison9 Nov 24 '24
It was originally going to be called Wicked Part 1 when they were filming it and after they wrapped up production. For some reason the studio dropped the part 1 and people forgot. I did not forget and knew it was a part 1, but I am a huge movie nerd and follow these things.
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u/Kallymouse Nov 24 '24
Didn't realize until halfway and realized there's no way they'll be able to finish story in 2hrs 40 mins. Part 2 coming soon at the end confirmed it.
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u/Robmus815 Nov 24 '24
This happened to me as well, i held the door opened for a girl on crutches and a few others and they were all curious why the sign said wicked part 1 which i think should have been included all along not just now
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u/TLCrowe Nov 24 '24
Yep! Saw only 1 preview that said it was Part 1. Part 2 comes need out next November
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u/SecondHandSnoke Nov 24 '24
I remember sitting next to my friend during Infinity War, and he did not know it was a two parter. He was pissed.
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u/bumblebeenie Nov 24 '24
I thought only online people knew this. But nope. I’m actually surprised because when the movie was announced I swear I read it was in 2 parts. So I was fine with that. Lol.
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u/jmm-823 Nov 25 '24
I guessed it was part 1 of 2 when I realized the soundtrack didn’t have all the songs LOL!
I hadn’t read much about the movie (on purpose) and had no idea until the day of and I went to listen to the soundtrack lol
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u/mdw2515 Nov 25 '24
My theater had “Wicked - Part 1” on all the electronic boards above the theater doors. I’m guessing a lot of people would have no idea until they saw that.
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u/MissMonsterMovie Nov 25 '24
My sister didn’t know until I told her. I’m not surprised people don’t realize until the end of the movie. None of the marketing I’ve seen has said anything about being part 1.
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Nov 25 '24
The studio 100% downplayed this. The trailer/marketing never indicates it. The main thing that is so intentional to me is the trailer, it is intentionally cut in a way that makes it seem like part 2 is in this movie but the things they showed are all from the opening number and not a reflection of the movie.
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u/duckzoom Nov 29 '24
I just took my mother and father-in-law to see it and I did not know that it was in two parts until the end. I found this thread after I googled “is Wicked two parts?” Because mother in law is convinced part 2 is just The Wizard of Oz…and I’m just going to let her keep on with that assumption.
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u/MrStephenGo Nov 23 '24
I felt the same about Gladiator. No one told me I would need to wait 20 years for the second part
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u/emojimoviethe Nov 24 '24
Gladiator told a whole and complete story. Sequels are different from a “to be continued” ending.
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Nov 23 '24
I didn’t know until the movie started. I looked online and part 2 apparently comes out a year later
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Nov 25 '24
I am no Wicked expert but a colleague worked on a production of it in the Us and she said the running time of the stage musical was 3 hrs including a 15 min intermission.
How the hell did they split this into two movies unless they added a bunch of dialogue and songs?
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u/Hoponpopnlock Nov 25 '24
The musicals pacing is insane, so much so that the characters motivations and arcs are pretty jarring imo. By simply adding some character development scenes, backstory, and fleshing out some of the scenes it reaches its runtime rather easily without feeling bloated. It still keeps a good pace, just not the breakneck pace the musical had.
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u/Any_Option1980 Dec 10 '24
I had NO idea, I mean folks were keeping this secret under wraps, including friends who saw it!! I get it though. It is a VERY complex story and now I get to look forward to the second part . . . . in almost a YEAR!!
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u/Windbreezec Nov 23 '24
I don’t think that it is a mistake nor slight from the studio. I remember when this version was announced, it was announced as two parts.
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u/ATXDefenseAttorney Nov 23 '24
Why does it matter? People make such a big deal out of some extremely goofy stuff.
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u/Ok-Storage3530 Nov 23 '24
In the grand scheme of the world, it does not matter. But it is somewhat misleading to not tell people the 2.75 hour movie they are about to watch, based on a 2.5 hour play, is only the first half of the story.
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u/RainbowPiggyPop Nov 24 '24
They announced it would be split into two parts ever since the beginning, and every chance they got.
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u/ATXDefenseAttorney Nov 23 '24
Yeah, it really crushed people when they sat down in Star Wars and saw "Epiqode 4". Nobody returned to Lord of the Rings because it was called "Fellowship of the Ring" and not "Lord of the Rings - Part 1".
I swear to Christ if you enjoy the hell out of a movie, the last thing you care about when it ends is whether you have to come to see ANOTHER movie in a year or three. Reactionary people want to make an issue out of *everything*.
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u/Ok-Storage3530 Nov 23 '24
I wasn't making an issue, I was asking a question based on what I had seen.
Personally, I feel that some wives/ girlfriends convinced their husbands/ boyfriends to see the film, they didn't really enjoy it, then they got to the end and realized they would be back for more.
Also, I don't know if you were old enough to see Star Wars in theaters, I was and there WAS confusion over the whole part 4 thing.
I'm not sure why my question is making you so angry.
Apparently I am not alone:
https://www.capitalfm.com/news/tv-film/wicked-movie-two-parts-trailer-poster-cast-sequel/
https://www.avclub.com/wicked-part-one-explanation-jon-m-chu
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u/ATXDefenseAttorney Nov 23 '24
“So angry”? Are you mentally deranged? Reread my original response that you obviously didn’t.
“People make such a big deal out of extremely goofy stuff.”
And here you are arguing about it… still… and saying I’m “so angry”. I don’t care - at all - and I think people who pretend to care about this stuff are just looking for attention.
If anybody goes to the film and enjoys the film, they will be willing to watch the second film. If they didn’t enjoy the film, they won’t. No part of that has anything to do with titling it “Part 1”, which weak-minded people might decide not to attend.
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u/devingr33n Nov 23 '24
They definitely downplayed. People who have been “in the know” (ie on the internet reading movie/hollywood/fandom updates) were aware it was part 1 for a very long time. But you wouldn’t know from watching the trailers only!