‘Wicked’s Initial Cut Was Close To Four Hours Long, Editing Team Says – Contenders Film: The Nominees

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Talk about a gargantuan task. The feature take on Broadway musical Wicked, which is split up into two theatrical releases, had a first cut that was close to four hours long.

Part 1 of Jon M. Chu’s 10-times Oscar-nominated movie was whittled down to 2 hours and 40 minutes. How long Part 2 is still TBD. “It was a long movie,” Oscar-nominated editor Myron Kerstein said at Deadline’s Contenders Film: The Nominees virtual panel. “And then of course, the second movie that was also assembled, so were able to watch both parts at the same time to inform us, the bigger story we’re telling and whether it should be one or two movies.” Kerstein added, “That first cut didn’t have ‘Defying Gravity’ due to the strike.” That’s the big show-stopping climax number from Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba. RELATED: Contenders Film: The Nominees — Deadline’s Complete Coverage Given that situation, in post there was an animated Elphaba in place singing the hit song from the Stephen Schwartz stage musical. “It was not a mess but an unfinished foundation of what the movie wanted to be,” Kerstein said When it comes to working with Chu, many of our panelists had collaborated with the filmmaker previously.

That includes the Oscar-nominated sound team of Nancy Nugent Title (supervising sound editor and sound designer), John Marquis (supervising sound editor and sound designer, re-recording mixer) and Andy Nelson (re-recording mixer), the key remains getting into the director’s head and understanding the emotional arc of the movie. RELATED: The 2025 Oscars: Everything We Know So Far About The Nominations, Ceremony, Date & Host “Jon has a clear idea of what he wants to convey emotionally,” Title said. “If you don’t at least get a handle on what your doing