Jon M. Chu decided early on in development to split “Wicked” into two films, saying it was one of the most important decisions he made during pre-production.

Though some fans may have assumed the first part’s nearly three-hour runtime would have encompassed both acts of the musical adaptation, “Wicked: Part Two” will not arrive until next November.

The director said that it would be a disservice to the fans and the story to try to squeeze both acts into one film, telling TheWrap that both parts of “Wicked” were greenlit simultaneously by Universal.

“If you’re going to make two movies and each is going to be great on its own, then you have to commit to that. You have to then make that first movie as great and emotionally satisfying as possible,” Chu told TheWrap. “You won’t do that if you always have a back door to do one movie.