With the highly anticipated Wicked: For Good finally playing in theaters across the globe, it now joins the pantheon of classic Hollywood franchises that have seen their source material severed in half. Whether that be for monetary gain or “expansion of the story,” as creatives often call it, we will never truly know. Yet with the decision to separate Wicked into two halves to let its very rushed and overstuffed second act breathe a little more, Wicked: For Good has found itself in similarly tepidly reviewed waters as the source material it was aiming to improve upon. With a 68% on Rotten Tomatoes and a generally less buzzy awards showing so far in the race, the expansion of Wicked into two parts was not ultimately successful in elevating its source material… so far anyways.
Therefore, an important question must be asked: Should Wicked have been separated into two movies? Or perhaps a more potent question is: Should original three-act-structured stories be expanded into six acts spanning two films?
Aiming to resolve that question by examining the key franchises that have created Part 1s and Part 2s, I have ranking the effectiveness of splitting their stories into two films.
- The Hobbit (The Desolation of Smaug / The Battle of the Five Armies)
In last place is Peter Jackson’s prequel trilogy to his iconic Lord of the Rings films: The Hobbit, a CGI, drab and ultimately soulless attempt to recreate Jackson’s original success. However, the magic of the original trilogy could not be recaptured by a one-movie story stretched so impossibly thin across three features that it left audiences bored, dissatisfied, and ultimately questioning the necessity of The Hobbit lore in the cinematic canon.
The second movie in the trilogy, The Desolation of Smaug, ends so abruptly that it doesn’t even resemble the natural conclusion to a mid-season TV finale, let alone the mid-point of a genre-defining fantasy franchise.
Moreover, the sequel to The Desolation of Smaug, The Battle of the Five Armies, is no better, stretching a singular chapter of the book into a two-hour-plus movie that plays like one sluggish, CGI-heavy video-game cutscene. All the character work, plot, and detailed lore of the original trilogy is sacrificed for one dull, bloated finale.
The key problem is not only that The Hobbit shouldn’t have been three movies, but it couldn’t even justify two. Bilbo Baggins’ story is simply not interesting enough to compete with the iconography of the original Lord of the Rings saga, leaving us with three meandering, unnecessary films that muddy the goodwill of the originals.
Ultimately, what should have been a slam-dunk return to Middle-earth became a cash-grab trilogy and the single least effective “two-part finale” on this list.
- IT Chapters 1 and 2
Perhaps this ranking is my personal bias, but it is my ranking after all and never has there been a greater let down than It: Chapter 2.
It’s most disappointing because Andy Muschietti’s IT: Chapter 1 could not have been more of a revelation at the time. Riding the Stranger Things cultural wave, this horror coming-of-age classic about the child-murdering clown could not have been more perfect in tone, campiness, or scares. People were quoting it in the streets, every store was selling yellow raincoats and LOSER casts, and frankly it was impossible to escape.
Then came IT: Chapter 2 two years later, and it could not have been further from the cultural event that the first film became. In fairness, Stephen King’s self-proclaimed LSD-inspired writing process does make the second half of the novel easy to adapt, it’s much harder to believe that grown adults are terrified of a man dressed as a clown, but Muschietti doesn’t seem to even try. The true horror and gore are stripped out and replaced by baffling CGI moments that make the audience laugh rather than scream. Whether it’s Pennywise singing about the LGBTQ community, Angel of the Morning scoring a supposed jump scare, or the abundance of, already-dated digital effects, the terror of Pennywise dissolves into borderline comedic absurdity.
Coupled with a structure that separates the core cast for the first two acts, IT: Chapter 2 becomes a sluggish, boring, and vastly inferior watch.
Perhaps adapting the novel non-linearly, intercutting adult and child timelines as King originally wrote, would have been more effective than splitting the story into two films. But then again, the first movie is so good that perhaps the adult storyline of IT is simply unadaptable in any medium.
- The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn
Listen, Twilight was never known for cinematic excellence. These were blockbuster popcorn films at their finest, and in that regard, they delivered. What Breaking Dawn does well to justify its two-part structure is that each film feels distinctly separate, yet still part of one whole. Breaking Dawn: Part 1 is a melodramatic, body-horror romance that pivots Edward and Bella away from their soppy teenage roles into hardened parents and warriors. Then Part 2 immediately jumps into the action, crafting a fast-paced, energized finale that packs just enough punch to justify splitting one novel into two movies.
It’s not perfect. Part 1 is undeniably thin and slow. But the films are watchable and enjoyable enough to justify their existence, and for a franchise that was constantly mocked and ridiculed, that is as high a praise as I can give Twilight: Breaking Dawn.
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay
A considerable leap in quality now. The touted two-part epic conclusion to The Hunger Games saga is undoubtedly powerful and inspiring, albeit slightly underwhelming as the final chapter of a massive YA franchise. With a 390-page novel that slowly builds toward an explosive third act, splitting it can make sense. However, doing so renders Mockingjay: Part 1 as remarkably unmemorable and lacking in the explosive action that made the franchise iconic. It isn’t a bad film, just the weakest in the series and a considerable step down in quality from the excellence of the first two movies.
What redeems the Mockingjay two-parter is its second half, which is remarkably well balanced in juggling its political commentary with thrilling action sequences. This final film also acts as the pinnacle of Jennifer Lawrence’s talents at the peak of her stardom. She anchors the finale with a raw, magnetic performance that earned her the title as the biggest movie star of the 2010’s. Couple this iconic performance with Francis Lawrence’s direction, the franchise’s signature iconography, and a strong, emotional conclusion help justify the division of the Mockingjay story into two.
If Part 1 had retained more of the action and intensity of its predecessors, the two-parter could have ranked higher. Still, the Mockingjay films remain powerfully well-made, if slightly long-winded, final chapters to the iconic Hunger Games saga.
- Wicked
Wicked, alongside the obvious number one on this list, has the opposite problem of many prior examples: it actually has the breadth of story to support two films. The second act of Wicked is so jam-packed with story beats and revelations that it genuinely benefits from the extra screen time. However, what holds the duology back from the top spot is that the stage show’s second act is inherently denser, darker, and less breezy than the first. No amount of padding, clarification, or cinematic spectacle can fully elevate a second act with fewer standout songs, iconic moments or just good writing.
Still, Jon M. Chu does his best to smooth and expand the story, delivering an emotionally powerful duology and arguably the strongest adaptation the source material could receive. Like The Hunger Games, Wicked is bolstered by magic (no pun intended) central performances that will undoubtedly stand the test of time. And like Breaking Dawn’s best quality, the films embrace distinct tones: Part 1 is a whimsical, comedic fairytale, while For Good becomes a dark, politically charged melodrama. Giving the movies their own tones allow for the most iconic songs to have their moments and shine as they deserve to. ‘Defying Gravity’ and ‘For Good’ are true cinematic highlights of their respective years and wouldn’t have had the impact they did if they had been crammed into one jumbo movie.
Therefore, yes, Wicked Part One and Part Two are flawed, but those flaws wash away with the standout performances of Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, the expanded storytelling and the visual medium to broaden the landscape of Oz. Even with imperfections, I believe the Wicked duology will continue to be considered one of the great iconic franchises in Hollywood history.
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 & 2
While I will never endorse or promote the reprehensible author’s views, director David Yates’ conclusion to the Harry Potter series remains the pinnacle of what can be achieved by dividing source material in two. Despite many attempts to replicate the magic of this structure (no pun intended again), none have matched the emotional and powerful impact of both Deathly Hallows films.
Like the best two-parters, the Deathly Hallows duology smartly delineates its halves by distinctive tones. Deathly Hallows: Part 1 is introspective, somber, and foreign to the whimsy of earlier entries whereby we saw magic through the eyes of bright-eyed children. For the first time in the series, the film lets us see a different side to these perfect protagonist’s we’ve spent the past six movies falling in love with. It’s raw, ugly, and slow in a way that finally allows the weight of the world to rest on their shoulders and allows the audience to feel that weight alongside them. Never has the term ‘calm before the storm’ felt so personified by one singular movie.
Deathly Hallows: Part 2, in contrast, releases all that built-up tension in one cathartic, fantasy-epic blowout. From the Gringotts escape, to the Battle of Hogwarts, to the final showdown with Voldemort, Yates delivers nonstop emotional payoff. Yates could not have delivered a more action packed nor emotionally explosive conclusion to both the intelligently yet somberly paced Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and just the series as a whole.
Basically, he treats Deathly Hallows: Part 1 like a massive inhale and Deathly Hallows: Part 2 like the biggest action-packed exhale of all time. Typical tension building and breaking rules from screenwriting class, but perfectly executed across a massive budgeted, two part epic film finale.
Again, Rowling’s views and actions are deplorable, but the credit here goes to Yates and the cinematic achievement that he accomplished here. No two-part split has ever been as effective, or as emotionally resonant, as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
— Darragh Evans