Fans of Wicked the movie have left performers of the West End version of the show enraged by walking out of the live version of the show mid-way.
The smash hit musical has been thrilling theatre goers since performances first began in London in 2006. The Tony and Grammy Award-winning show is based on the 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West written by Gregory Maguire.
And last year, the long-awaited film version of the musical finally hit cinemas - with Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande taking the lead roles in the lavish adaptation. But while the live stage version of the story is told over a brisk two hours and 45 minutes in the West End, the film version has been split into two parts.
The first part - which runs almost as long as the entire live musical with two hours and 40 minutes - arrived in cinemas last November, and the second instalment is due to hit screens the same month this year. In the meantime, fans of the film have been rushing to the theatre to watch the stage version of the show.
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storyhouse pr)However, it has been revealed that those unfamiliar with the full story have been abandoning their seats halfway through the show in order to avoid spoiling the ending. But this has left those playing the parts of Elphaba, Galinda and those working in the theatre at the end of their tethers.
A source told The Sun: "It’s ridiculous and causing a lot of eye rolls among staff. Loads of fans are leaving at half-time so as not to spoil the next film. It’s totally unfair and, to be honest, rude to the actors who are working so hard to put on such an epic production.”
With the second part of the film still nine months away from release, some fans have still been unsure why the story is being told in two parts on the big screen. Helpfully, director Jon Chu explained reasoning for making the motion picture version twice as long as the stage version.
He said on Twitter back in 2022: "Here's what happened: as we prepared this production over the 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. 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."
He added, "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."
Since the first part was released, and it was titled Wicked - Part 1, the second version has undergone a title change. After being initially touted as Wicked - Part 2, the concluding half of the film is now called Wicked: For Good, and will be released in the UK on 21 November 2025.
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