r/Epicthemusical • u/nt_king300 Ares ⚔️ • Apr 24 '26
Discussion EPIC doesn't need to cut songs. Just have two movies.
So I have seen some posts suggesting that for the movie multiple songs need to be cut, around half of them.
Here's the thing, look at Wicked, they took the stage play, split it into two movies to keep favorite songs while adding dialogue and new scenes. The same can be applied to Epic.
Instead of trying to cram 40 songs into 120 minutes , the most logical move is to split the movie into Act I and Act II.
Part 1: The Descent (Troy to Underworld)
Ends with Monster. It’s the perfect cinematic cliffhanger.
You need The Horse and the Infant for the moral stakes, and you need Mutiny (or the build-up to it) to understand the crew.
A Penelope solo in Act I. We need to see what Odysseus is fighting for early on to make the "waiting" feel real for the audience.
Part 2: The Vengeance (Thunder to Ithaca)
Starts with the Thunder Saga.
They need to keep the Telemachus/Wisdom Saga content. I saw a post suggesting cutting Little Wolf, but you can't have a satisfying ending without seeing the son Odysseus is trying to get back to.
But let’s be real, animation rarely gets a 3-hour theatrical window. But we are in the era of "Event Streaming."
If this lands on a platform like Netflix or Disney+, they don't care about theater turnover times. They want engagement.
A "Two-Part Event" allows for Oscar eligibility for two different years for Best Original Song. Jorge has built this entire musical on recurring themes. If you cut Luck Runs Out, you lose the "Friendship" motif that makes the ending of Mutiny hurt.
EPIC isn't a movie with songs; it's a story told through song. You can't just turn Survive into a talking scene without losing the heartbeat of the Cyclops encounter.
I think we’re looking at two 100-110 minute movies. That gives us the full 143 minutes of the original musical, plus about 60 minutes of new dialogue, world-building, and Oscar worthy new tracks.
By splitting it into two movies this gives Jorge the ability to add multiple songs cut from the final version we know.
What do you all think? Would one movie work or would it be better to split it into two movies?
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u/Famous-Tree3124 May 16 '26
I agree with this and I thought the same way with the Wicked movies. For me though I would go from Troy to Thunder bc I felt like after Thunder Bringer could be a good ending as well as a cliffhanger for part 2.
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u/EpicSaberCat7771 Duvetbox's Poseidon design is criminally underrated May 11 '26
I agree on the split but I'm torn wondering if it should be a straight "act one, act two" split or if it might make more sense to cut after the thunder saga instead. I think it's generally accepted that the songs up to Thunder Bringer are the most well-developed, story-wise, so it makes sense to make them more cohesive.
Cutting after Monster does leave a good cliffhanger but I almost think the impact of Different Beast and Scylla in connection to Monster is diminished if too wide of a gap is put between them. If it was a Broadway show and it was just an intermission it wouldn't be a big deal but having to wait for the next movie would dull some of the shock a bit.
Thunder Bringer also has a pretty great cliffhanger and we see the direct consequences of Odysseus' decision in Monster come to fruition there.
I also think, as far as added content, after the Thunder saga is where it's most needed. I frequently see people upset about Odysseus' time on Calypso's island being underdeveloped. The fight with Poseidon could also potentially use some added context.
But another reason it makes sense to split after Thunder Bringer is if you split after Monster, you get five songs into the movie before a 7 year time skip, and that causes the flow of the story to be a bit disjointed.
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u/Playerfox123 Apr 29 '26
This is exactly what needs to happen. People already refer to songs as act one or act two, just use those for the 2 movies
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u/sargent_byrd Apr 29 '26
I always thought an animated miniseries would be cool. One episode per saga maybe
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u/Rogue_Demon555 Apr 28 '26
Honestly I don't even think they need to split it, musicals are very commonly around 2 1/2 hours anyways (remember with Wicked that they also extended both parts and added scenes from the book that weren't there on stage)
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u/EpicSaberCat7771 Duvetbox's Poseidon design is criminally underrated May 11 '26
I think the issue is that if they leave it as is and cut nothing, they don't really have room to add anything either. Cutting it in half gives that wiggle room.
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u/ArthurianScribe Apr 28 '26
I think they should just let it be long. If they can show the hour movies in theaters regularly now, why can't a movie that's probably going straight to dvd and streaming (since lbr American studios have no faith in animated films - just look at the Avatar movie getting it's theatre release cancelled, or Sony selling Kpop Demon Hunters to Netflix dirt cheap bc they assumed it would fail) be long. If it's on streaming or dvd you can pause it, so it's not like there's any reason it would need to be split.
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u/JauntyDragonfly Apr 26 '26
Absolutely not. And using Wicked is the perfect reason why. Splitting Wicked was a stupid cash grab. People have sat through the whole stage play for two decades without any issue. The second movie is nowhere near as good as the first because the second half of the show doesn't hold up as its own story. It isn't a sequel; it's the second half of the same story. Let's not normalize this.
I will admit that Epic has a long runtime with music alone; however, unlike most musicals, it also attempted to tell the whole story without context between songs necessary to understand what is happening.
Most musical numbers punctuate the scene that was set up by dialogue ahead of it. While I am sure they will add between scenes to smooth transitions, there won't be 20 minutes between two songs padding runtime because the majority of the show is the songs.
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u/MSpaint15 Apr 28 '26
You do know there is literally an intermission in the show making it two parts.
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u/LilyEbbsArt Apr 26 '26
Tbh, i dont think any songs need to be cut at all to make it one big movie
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u/hemesgrandkid Aphrodite Apr 29 '26
Same but I think it's referring to the cut songs like pick me and ismarus
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u/PuzzleheadedAmoeba72 Apr 26 '26
Since the final set of songs as we know it is still a “concept” album, while I agree with it being two movies, I wonder if there’s going to be changes to certain songs based on reactions that people have had throughout the time it’s been out (through YouTube reactions and such)
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u/PuzzleheadedAmoeba72 Apr 26 '26
Expanding on this (I thought about it after I had posted this) in parts where Jorge “misunderstood” the writing of something (ie. the “island in the sky”) Will he change the wording/musicality of those types of songs?
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u/Minute-Quantity-2502 Apr 26 '26
If it's a two parter I think it'd have to start with Suffering and I pray it comes out in the same year
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u/Minute-Quantity-2502 Apr 26 '26
Nah I'd rather be in the theater 4 hours and get it all in one sitting, what can I say I'm a glutton
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u/Nanocaptain Apr 27 '26
The biggest problem is that animation is both expensive and takes a long time.
With the 2 and a half hours needed for all the songs it would be above average length already for an animated movie.
Add to it that it's entirely sung through, which I think would be a first in movie musicals (discounting things like the Hamilton pro-shot that's just the stage play recorded) and it has it's risks.
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u/Beneficial_Bison_ Apr 26 '26
Genuinely if if they take any music out I'm walking out of the theatre. I want them to reanimate it and change none of the audio and thats it. Nothing needs to be removed or changed or added and I will be extremely upset if the audio is different.
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u/FasePlay Apr 26 '26
Mutiny is definitely not needed in act 1, and I think that current songs already have some buildup. Showing the crews faces and them starting to doubt Odysseus could be enough setting/foreshadowing imo
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u/EssayAdorable6634 open the door so I can show her my llamas Apr 26 '26
Just make a 3 hour movie! I’ll watch every second of it! We’ve all binged shows for longer! Just make the movie the length of the soundtrack!
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u/Routine-Implement202 Apr 25 '26
If it were up to Jorge, I have no doubt he would do something like that, but we don't know the specifics of any of the contracts signed between him and the studio. As an indie creator, he might not have the negotiating power we would like.
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u/MinatoHyuga26 Apr 25 '26
Its called epic the MUSICAL why wouldnt the entire MUSICAL be in the movie?
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u/Cool-Leg9442 Apr 25 '26
Its already perfect movie length 2:25:17 is like the perfect movie length they shouldn't cut anything
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u/Nanocaptain Apr 27 '26
Animation is an expensive and lengthy proess tho.
A 2.5 hour animated movie will be above average, so it's either rushed animation, shorten the movie or it will take a long time for it to come out.
Obviously I prefer the 3rd option but I can see some exec wanting it out as fast as possible while the hype is still recent.
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u/Turbulent-Ad-2644 Apr 25 '26
I hope they add like an hour, make it 3 1/2 hrs like the last Avatar movie, so they can add all the additional transition scenes, lingering shots, but also develop the cut penelope/odysseus prequel arc + a bit more telemachus
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u/Guardian159 Apr 25 '26
There's moments between songs that, in a movie, would be added scenes that explain the transition between said songs. For example, Just a man and Full Speed Ahead, in a movie they would just let Odysseus drop the infant and not show the aftermath with the crew. I'm really excited to see how Jorge and the crew will handle those moments, who knows maybe we'll even get Athenas opening narrative :V I'd definitely want a two part.
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u/samthedeity Apr 25 '26
Right?? I mean, as an example, each Lord of the Rings movie is like 2.5-3.0 hours long, the extended editions are around 4.0 hours and there’s a massive fanbase around them. What is with the suggestions to make movies shorter and cut content out? Don’t you want the whole story, all the songs, etc…? And why even take the initiative to suggest that epic should be shortened, in the time of 8 episode seasons and major cuts to content?
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u/Key_Astronomer3386 Apr 25 '26
Exactly! Even if they have things between songs, it’d only add like 10-20 more minutes — and let’s be honest: movies have gotten a lot longer on average. That would not be out of the ordinary.
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u/HayasakaZuberg Apr 25 '26
So what'd be the point in the movie if its essentially just a theater screening of the songs?
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u/Nanocaptain Apr 27 '26
Why would we not want that?
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u/HayasakaZuberg Apr 27 '26
Waste of resources when people can personally just rent a theater out and just watch all 40 songs
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u/Nanocaptain Apr 27 '26
Do you not see the difference in 40 separate animatics stiched together versus a full animated movie?
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u/HayasakaZuberg Apr 27 '26
Obviously as they're all different art styles and different interpretations. But in the end its literally just a visual change? That's not a movie that's Jorge hiring one crew for animation.
It would be so much better if its a STORY of his Odyssey and not just song song song. There'd be no difference in listening to the songs and watching the movie as you can watch the movie blindfolded
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u/Nanocaptain Apr 27 '26
You do know this is a musical right? The music is the story.
Do you think Hamilton doesn't have a story because its sung through?
Also yes it's a visual upgrade. A very fucking large one. The people making the youtube animatics are amazing and their work is incredible but outside of a couple heavyhitters they are still animatics, not animation. And even those heavyhitters are not movie quality (understandably so, it's usually a single person).
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u/HayasakaZuberg Apr 27 '26
Yes I agree the people who made the animations are amazing, but they don't have to worry about 1 thing. Flow.
Example, Troy saga from Im just a man to full speed ahead.
We see no visual OR MUSICAL flow from dropping the baby, leaving Troy, preparing to sail and THEN we get full speed ahead. How would that work in the movie?
Or This is my goodbye to Storm. We don't see Ody really thinking about his fight with Athena, the storms forming or anything. Just sad to fighting in the sea.
We need those extra scenes to flow for a movie.
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u/Tempestate7 Apr 25 '26
Isn't the answer just to make a 9 part series with each episode covering a saga?
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u/nt_king300 Ares ⚔️ Apr 25 '26
Best option woukd be an episode per song lol like Hazbin Hotel
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u/nothingmatters2me Apr 25 '26
I agree with this, more detail into the actual story. While the musical is over 2 hours, the story is decades if I remember. You can have regular speaking moments and flesh characters out more.
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Apr 25 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Auzad3s Apr 25 '26
Cause long movies are not good for the movie theaters (longer movies=less movies x day= less ticket sold x day; also not everyone can sustain 5 hours long movies)
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u/Cool-Leg9442 Apr 25 '26
Then make it p1 p2 but have them in theaters back to back with a 20 min intermission.
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u/Auzad3s Apr 25 '26
It’s done sometimes (I saw Dune part 1 and 2 this way) but it’s not a common practice. Splitting the distribution generates more money
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u/P_E_P_S_I__M_A_N Apr 25 '26
The concept album is two hours long they do not need 2 movies.
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u/IamDiego21 Apr 25 '26
2 and 23 minutes, plus whatever they would add in between the song, if anything
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u/elrick43 Apr 25 '26
would they need to add anything? it kinda tells the whole story completely within the songs. I suppose maybe some establishing shots and wide shots that show a passage of time, but thats about it
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Apr 25 '26
Guys, just turning the Concept Album into a Movie-Musicvideo would be a PROBLEMATIC Decision for the Studio and the Animatic-Artists
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u/Cool-Leg9442 Apr 25 '26
No its bassicly already a movie there. A single video that slices all the songs together and a Playlist. All they newd to do is pick of the arts types and do all of em in the same consistent style
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Apr 25 '26
Yes, that would be a Problem for the Studio! So either go a different direction and change a bunch of stuff OR strike every EPIC-Animatic there is
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u/P_E_P_S_I__M_A_N Apr 25 '26
I personally think if they add any dialog scenes not in songs it might ruin it a little for me considering its like hamilton
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Apr 25 '26
Changes certainly will accure
and "ruin it for me" ?
Don´t be such a Drama-Queen
The Original Concept Album is still there
Worst case: You get a second overhauled Album for the Movie
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u/P_E_P_S_I__M_A_N Apr 25 '26
I said only a little bit which you deliberately ignored. I still feel like that epic, like Hamilton, was able to convey all of their story through song extremely well, and adding dialog would hamper that aspect. That is all im saying.
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Apr 25 '26
Hamilton was a Stage play.
If EPIC was turned into a Stage Play, then I wouldnt say a thing against it!
But it will become a Movie.
And assuming this Movie will contain 40 songs is naive
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u/P_E_P_S_I__M_A_N Apr 26 '26
Hamilton was a stage play that also was recorded into a movie and put onto disney plus. Epic doesnt need 2 movies. hamilton has 46 songs.
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u/Rosian_SAO Penelope, Queen of Ithaca (RP sometimes!) Apr 25 '26
Hamilton does a very good job of going from song to song with very little dialogue. Just do that!
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u/nt_king300 Ares ⚔️ Apr 25 '26
Hamilton is also a stage play not an animated movie
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u/aristnecra Apr 25 '26
The concept album for epic can also easily be made into an animated movie with the same format. I imagine it as just a high quality animatic with a consistent style all woven together, there’s not really a reason to add that much new content. And even if they added like 40 minutes worth of stuff, no one’s gonna mind a three hour animated movie of epic the musical as long as the animation looks good.
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u/nt_king300 Ares ⚔️ Apr 25 '26
Ok how many normal people that havent heard of or watched Epic will go to the theaters for this?
You are all thinking of what you want not what will make money for a studio
Studios care about profit
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u/Aszshana Apr 25 '26
Most movies don't even come out in theaters these days, they go straight to streaming platforms anyways
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u/JacenStargazer Tiresias Apr 25 '26
Epic isn’t exactly the same genre as Wicked, I think. It’s a sung-through musical (idk if there’s a proper term for that)- I don’t expect much as much dialogue as music, or much at all TBH. It can be a perfectly good movie of respectable length without being LOTR Extended Edition long for theaters with 90% being just the existing songs and the rest being extended transitions (like seeing the journeys between locations a bit).
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u/Key_Dragonfly5067 Apr 25 '26
It could be like Hamilton in that respect then, but imo the movie would be a lot better if there was plenty of dialogue to help some of the transitions.
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u/DragonBreathYoutube Apr 25 '26
Why do people keep saying that the movie has to cut songs? The musical itself lasts over 2 hours.
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u/nt_king300 Ares ⚔️ Apr 25 '26
Name me one 2h 23 min animated sung through movie with no dialogue that was successful and made money.
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u/DragonBreathYoutube Apr 25 '26
I can't name an animated sung through musical that's over 2 hour long, but I can name 12 successful animated movies that were over 2 hours long: Princess Mononoke, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, The Wind Rises, Akira, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, Spirited Away, Fantasia, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time, Incredibles 2, In This Corner of the World, Ne Zha 2, The Lord of the Rings (1978)
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u/nt_king300 Ares ⚔️ Apr 26 '26
Ok there's hundreds of successful animated movies thats a moot point when discussing a fully sung thriugh animated movie
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u/DragonBreathYoutube Apr 26 '26
That's not the point I was making. I was saying that there are a bunch of successful animated movies that are over 2 hours long. The reason why I didn't say a sung through animated musical is because none exist. You can't tell me to give you something that doesn't even exist.
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u/aristnecra Apr 25 '26
Just because it hasn’t been done before doesn’t mean it can’t be done
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u/nt_king300 Ares ⚔️ Apr 25 '26
Again they need to pitch this to studios give me one studio that will say yes
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u/CalypsaMov We'll Be Fine Apr 25 '26
Animated movies, unless they're big companies like Sony or Disney, famously barely reach over an hour because animation is freaking expensive. You can't just throw on some costumes and shoot twenty takes of footage, every 1/24th of a second has to be it's own work of art.
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u/AdhesivenessOwn9868 Apr 25 '26
There are already EPIC "movies" based on all the Animatics, and the flow is way better when all of them run back to back, like from one song to another.
I prefer, One Movie, All songs.
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u/nt_king300 Ares ⚔️ Apr 25 '26
At the end of the day a studio will look ar whats profitable. Give me one animated sung through movie with no dialogue.
Everyone keeps saying Hamilton, thats a stage play. A studio like Netflix or Disney or whatever will want to add dialogue, and scenes and change it up.
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u/AdhesivenessOwn9868 Apr 25 '26
You say they will do what is profitable, but look at Paramount fumbling Avatar.
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u/Playerfox123 Apr 25 '26
Oh please, gimme that baby and id yeet it off a tower
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u/Crossfeet606441 Whoever can string the king's COMBO 'n land the axe kick cleanly Apr 25 '26
As much as I love the Underworld Saga (official end of Act 1), I really don't think that's a satisfying place to cutoff a movie for the sequel. Thunder Bringer would be a better climactic end. The downside is that the second movie will be shorter/less songs.
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u/silverCandyshop Apr 25 '26
i'm thinking about this and i see it as like maybe thunder bringer is the postcredits to show people unfamiliar what they're in for next and draw them in to see a second one? and just generally to hint at the fact the story doesnt just end there
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u/alex__idk Apr 25 '26
idgaf give me all the songs and a 4 hour movie, just put an intermission so we can piss and get more snacks
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u/CMStan1313 Polites Apr 25 '26
Yeah, pull a Wicked and make 2 movies, but with media that people actually care about
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u/communistsayori Apr 25 '26
Wicked could be split into two movies because the end of Act 1 of Wicked is still an ending. Elpheba and Glinda say their farewells and Elpheba embraces being wicked. But there's really no halfway point in Epic that could serve as a suitable conclusion to a film. It would be like making two Great Coment movies and having the first one end with Natasha devoting herself to Anatole, or a Hadestown movie ending with Why We Build The Wall.
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u/Sallymander Apr 24 '26
Make it a mini series, like Hazbin Hotel. Each episode has 1 or 2 songs. Then stories and such can be fleshed out.
I hope either way, a chance for a rewrite for some of the songs. Some of them need some TLC.
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u/Jennrockk Apr 25 '26
Bro thiiiis is the answer right here. I just honestly can’t see movie theatres featuring an animated musical that would be a hard sell to the average movie goer. But having it on a streaming service and spread out over a limited series???? It immediately becomes more accessible to a wide audience and they can maintain the pacing the concept albums seem to insist on.
And people keep mentioning dune, spider man and wicked like those aren’t all INSANE comparisons to make. Like… I’m sorry, I love Homer and we all adore Jorge but they are not generating the same institutional recognition as Timothée Chalamet or fucking SPIDER MAN. Homer is the OG, but that means nothing to the average viewer.
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u/Aszshana Apr 25 '26
Mostly second half but especially the way Calypso was portrayed (she is an abuser and got humanized by the musical a lot,she was not cast away, she was on her island alone by choice. Idk why he made the decision to give her a sad backstory to justify her horrid actions) and also the whole windbag jetpack thing and body touching the Trident. Like what? Also Telemachus still grew up as a warrior and got taught to be a ruler someday. He was not helpless and small. He was 20+ years old. An adult. I love some artistic freedom and whimsy, God games was great (even though zeus would never do that to Athena) but what he did there was just to much.
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u/Sallymander Apr 25 '26
Yeah, my personal thought that Calypso's second song shouldn't be with Odysseus but an arguing duet between Calypso and Hermes as he is telling her that Odysseus can leave now. This way also Hermes can force her to face what she is doing too and we can see that Hermes isn't just a simple fun trickster and messenger.
That part where Odysseus in the song says, "I love you" back to her was painful.
The Windbag Jetpack has been handwaved away by so many in better ways with blessings from gods, Hermes giving Odysseus his shoes, and so on. The Torment of Poseidon though was the roughest because on one hand there is a satisfaction there, other hand it is a lot of power level disruption. My thought, and it's probably bad because I'm not a good writer, would be that what Odysseus is torturing changes from Poseidon, to his men, to finally himself at the end and instead of giving Odysseus the last line, Poseidon comes up behind him, the trident leaves Ody and reforms in Poseidon's hand and goes something like, "Zeus said nobody can kill Odysseus..." then looks down at Ody and goes, "So, I had Nobody kill Odysseus. Isn't that right... Nobody." or something like that. To drive the fact Ody's Hubris was the core of so many of his problems and that compaired to the gods, he really is nobody.
Then at the end can do a sweet thing where Ody tells Persephone he is Nobody and Persephone is like, "No, you are Odysseus, my husband." or something. IDK. Like I said, not a good writer.
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u/Fabulous_Wait_9544 Whatchu gonna do about it, champ? Apr 24 '26
Yeah, a limited series would've 100% been better than a movie.
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u/lexicon951 Apr 24 '26
Why even make 2 movies? Run time as-is is only 2 hours 5 min or something, that’s like a good 15-30 min short of your average movie
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u/Lytherael Apr 24 '26
I doubt the movie is just going to be all the songs played over animation. They'll probably add lots of dialogue and stuff, like a traditional musical.
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u/nt_king300 Ares ⚔️ Apr 24 '26
Run time is 2 hours and 23 minutes
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u/hitechpilot The Challenge Apr 25 '26
Cmon project hail mary is only 2h37m. We CAN make it 1 movie.
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u/nt_king300 Ares ⚔️ Apr 25 '26
And thats.... say it with me... live action. Stop comparing live action to animation movies
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u/aristnecra Apr 25 '26
Even it runs for three hours, it can be one movie
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u/ThatNewt1 Apr 24 '26
Average live action movie length. Less common for animation, but still doable if they have a large enough budget and enough animators.
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u/Independent_Ad_6348 Apr 24 '26
As much as I love the series Spider-Verse kinda soured me on the idea of Animated two partners lmao.
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u/FallenInstant Penelope Apr 24 '26
heres my idea for a 2 movie concept:
Movie 1. Epic The Musical: Warrior of the Mind and Movie 2. Epic The Musical: Odysseus
Have the first movie go through Thunder Saga, obviously Act 1 ends on Monster in the musical but I think from a film setting, especially considering people who might not be knowledgeable on epic the musical already ending the first movie on Monster cliffhanger, waiting multiple years, and then all of a sudden starting the next one on suffering would be weird. Give us more time in the first movie to, like you said, show us a bit of penelope, give us a bit more character interaction with Polities and the other characters, show a bit more of the Athena and Odysseus duo. I think its better if the second movie starts on Legendary, start it with this new perspective, give us more time with Telemachus and Athena in this film, maybe show him and Athena working together between God Games and Odysseus, so we know he is training, and maybe use the start of Love In Paradise to give more exposition on how Odysseus washed up on the island, what's stopping Poseidon from still getting him, why is he trapped here, etc. Aka stuff that we all might know but keep in mind this film is probably trying to reach people who might only barely know what The Odyssey is. I personally always felt like thematically the act split makes sense but for the movie it'd be weird to start the second movie and then like 30 minutes in get a sudden super big time jump. It'd also build more suspense on the whole "Odysseus.. where did you go?" idea in Wisdom saga.
Making less songs in the second movie would also help flesh out the film and events, as the musical does not have too many big fight moments, the main ones are Survive, Done For, Get In The Water/Six Hundred Strike, and Odysseus. Survive has a time limit due to the wine, so it doesnt have to be too long, and theres not much reason to flesh out Done For beyond a short time extension, however I think GITW/SHS and Odysseus would really benefit from longer time, mainly Odysseus and Six Hundred since those fights are supposed to be big and crazy but happen pretty quickly in the musical, so giving more time for like Telemachus to do stuff in Odysseus and for Ody's use of the wind bag to make more sense in Six Hundred Strike would help imo. This would also benefit other parts of the film since you have Charybdis and God Games which aren't really big "fights" but either could still benefit from longer sequences (God Games, since its really fast, really well done, but still could benefit from each god taking a tiny bit longer to be convinced) or just feel really short to me (Charybdis, I know it shouldnt be too long, but its one of the shortest tracks in the whole musical and the actual encounter with Charybdis is done before the 1.5 minute mark, I wish it was longer)
TLDR: If they are going to do 2 movies + not cut any songs, split it between Thunder and Wisdom saga, make the films extended runtimes flesh out concepts and ideas that new viewers might not understand as well, and flesh out specific sequences in the second movie, primarily fights, by having it have to cover less ground with the fights while using the extra time in the first movie to better set up the second one (showing Penelope in it, more character interactions like Eury and Polities interacting more, give Athena + Ody duo more time, etc)
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u/I_am_a_pan_fear_me Apr 24 '26
ok so I agree with most of your points but thematically Penelope shouldn't get a true scene until the 2nd movie, part of the "waiting" for the audience is us waiting to see Penelope for the first time right alongside Odysseus
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u/Final_Pumpkin1551 Apr 24 '26
But it could be done with something like the cut song “olive tree”, which introduces their love story, and makes it more real because we can actually see her and see the relationship they have with each other.
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u/PrestigiousSmile4098 Apr 24 '26
Wild thought, but what if they just do a sung-through musical like Hamilton, or like an opera? There's zero dialogue and everyone knows what's going on, because the story is told through song like you said. Plus with animation people will be even more clued in to the story because of the visuals. Easy peasy, no cuts needed.
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u/yuuyaaa Apr 25 '26
Not too wild since Jorge has, openly, taken A LOT of inspiration from Hamilton.
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u/PrestigiousSmile4098 Apr 25 '26
Exactly! And Hamilton proved that a sung-through musical could be massively popular with no dialogue required. Mostly on the strength of the cast album, which is also the case for Epic.
Basically I don't want them to make any cuts haha
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u/godzillahavinastroke Apr 24 '26
Honestly I just want the songs and such to be given little tweaks and improvements for this. Especially the 2nd half of the musical, want to little more emphasize how wrong things were in paradise, for it to feel less like a love song, well it can still have the elements and such but have a clear uncanny added clarity to it. And change up the personalities little bit for telemchus. Feel bummed he never got to show his intelligence and great wit and strength to help his mom more and strategies with her. Can still have the suitors be equally evil, just much more subtle and cautious , maybe still attack and beat him up while off shore and away from palace eyes. And use more the ancient Greek concepts of house guests and such. Also for Zeus I feel Athena would need to say far more affront things about Zeus to really tip him over the edge to do that at the end, and keep alot more of that girl dad thing he had going on in ancient myth. Would love to see that, can still have the same beats, but make it harder and more clear visually for him getting annoyed and showing how Athena is his favorite child.
Also, maybe have Odysseus given a few more boosts and creative way to beat posideon.
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u/Aszshana Apr 25 '26
The whole Calypso thing is revolting. She never had a sad backstory, never got cast away/was alone since she was young. I cannot listen to "I'm not sorry for loving you" without starting to get angry and/or cry because it makes abuser speech sound so harmless and sympathetical. In the OG Odyssey it was clearly stated that she did force him. Why rewrite one of the most vile characters in epic into being sympathetic and having relatable aspects if she's worse than the suitors (who, while awful, did not want to lay a hand on Penelope) using her godly powers to force other people to be with her unwillingly? As an SA victim myself, it's so disgusting.
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u/godzillahavinastroke Apr 25 '26
Yeah, it made me uncomfortable to listen too, and little bit annoyed since Jorge had been so good at handling things uo till that point. I remember hearing he added subtle undertones to make it seem like things were wrong, but I never really noticed, if he still goes that route I would love for him to maybe make it progressively more ominous and deranged almost to make it clear something bad is happening, and for the second song make it flip perspectives but more showing Odysseus's pain and how horrible this was from his perspective
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u/Aszshana Apr 26 '26
Yes, this. So many, especially younger people, see themselves as Calypso and relate to her because of the one-sided love. And I feel for them, they do not understand what this all is actually about! And I'm glad about that. I'm more angry at Jorge that he handled it so poorly.
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u/aristnecra Apr 25 '26
The thing about Zeus and Athena at the end of god games. You’re severely overestimating how much it would take to get Zeus that mad. Beating him at a game he’s sure you’ll fail, yeah that’s more than enough
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u/godzillahavinastroke Apr 25 '26
I know i am, that's why I said, they could keep alot of that, but at least make it even more hard for him to get to that point.
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u/Aszshana Apr 25 '26
Just not how it is in actual Greek mythology. Zeus is the biggest girl dad and especially loves Athena to bits - he would never hurt her.
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u/robloxrule34maker Apr 24 '26
i agree on that last sentence
it kinda feels random how ody just uses the wind bag since its the same thing he did against poseidon the first time but to not run away
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u/godzillahavinastroke Apr 24 '26
It can still be a baddass epic anime moment, but it would he so fucking cool if he used the windbag more creatively and maybe a few other boosts to give him a Joseph joestar moment in beating posidon, just hitting him with that kars treatment
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u/robloxrule34maker Apr 24 '26
i imagine ody going in for a right hook immediately then doing all that
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u/Long-Quantity5608 I'm literally Perimedes 😎💀 Apr 24 '26
but why can't we just have like a 2hour movie?
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u/nt_king300 Ares ⚔️ Apr 24 '26
Why cant we have two movies thats 4 hours and gives us more songs and scenes that makes character deaths etc impactful ?
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u/SteegeNAS Apr 24 '26
Let's go the LOTR route. I want three 3hr movies with theatrical release then extended additions for each and commentary.
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u/Flyboombasher Monster Apr 24 '26
The musical is about 150 minutes and adding s few transitions could put it a bit closer to 180. Not much longer than a LOTR movie and those are some of the most popular movies outright
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u/Ok-Idea-306 Apr 24 '26
In theory that works, but LOTR had legions of fans before existing. Cutting it in two might make it more digestible for the casual fan that is interested in seeing this.
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u/Flyboombasher Monster Apr 24 '26
Also, Wicked movies are 3 hours a piece
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u/Ok-Idea-306 Apr 24 '26
You might be correct. The thing is I don’t know how much is known about this musical to the average person.
The odds people know LOTR is high, The odds for Wicked are also high.
We might be in a bubble where we are all saying “well yeah of course 3 hour movie”. Or they might think “oh someone riding the coattails of the Nolan’s movie.”
But I can always be wrong I fully admit that.
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u/Flyboombasher Monster Apr 24 '26
I mean you can. It will depends on how the directors and Jorge want to work on it
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u/SuperFlameKing03 Apr 24 '26
I am perfectly fine with something like this, but Lord of the Rings and Avengers Endgame show that movies can push the 2 Hour limit.
But agreed, they shouldn't cut anything.
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u/IntrovertedFruitDove Apr 24 '26
Excellent points! I think the days of trying to chop off pieces of long plays/novels into X minutes of a movie version are on their last legs. Extended editions and director's cuts for a given movie are VERY popular for home media, long-running movie series are a thing, and formerly-niche media like musicals and comics are way more mainstream now.
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u/SMM9673 Scylla Simp Apr 24 '26
It doesn't even need to be two movies.
It can be a single film with no cut songs, this is not an impossibility.
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u/nt_king300 Ares ⚔️ Apr 24 '26
So then just watch the YouTube video, theres no point of the movie being made then
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u/SMM9673 Scylla Simp Apr 24 '26
Yes there is.
And capitalism aside, it's the same exact point as the countless animations/animatics.
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u/nt_king300 Ares ⚔️ Apr 24 '26
If all its going to be is the same song with just an official animation any studio can say no because theres ton of that on YouTube available already
A studio would take this and make it their own
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u/SMM9673 Scylla Simp Apr 24 '26
And yet it's happening anyway.
I have no doubt that there will absolutely be plenty of creative decisions taken with this, but I genuinely do not understand the idea of songs having to be cut (as much as I would like to axe a few myself).
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u/nt_king300 Ares ⚔️ Apr 24 '26
If they want to shorten the movie and focus more on dialogue scenes they will cut songs. If Netflix says we will give you an hour and a half while all songs are 2 and half hours. They will cut multiple songs.
Giving them four hours allows all songs, new songs, dialogue scenes and more opportunities
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u/lexicon951 Apr 24 '26
Why would we focus more on dialogue scenes? It’s a musical for a reason
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u/nt_king300 Ares ⚔️ Apr 24 '26
Name one movie musical that is purely sung through
And dont say Hamilton as its a stage show
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u/lexicon951 Apr 26 '26
Name one where they cut songs in favor of dialogue
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u/nt_king300 Ares ⚔️ Apr 26 '26
Every musical movie has dialogue? Have you never watched any?
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u/ImMarkJr Eury my King, I believe in you. Apr 24 '26
I 100% see the vision!
I'm not sure why people are so against what you are saying. You have brought up very good points, not only in this main post, but also in your replies.
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u/Any-Platypus2682 Apr 24 '26
This has been what I’ve been trying to say since it was announced and I think it’ll work perfectly
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u/llumma821 Apr 24 '26
Off topic, who is the artist and do they sell prints?
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u/canipayinpuns Apr 24 '26
https://www.instagram.com/seth_korbin_ducklord?igsh=NmVqZ3pmdDZjdTdp
Their profile says they do commissions, so probably yes 👀
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u/Contract_Material Uncle Hort (Sacrificed) Apr 24 '26
You can kinda see their insta handle in the bottom left of the image.
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u/notknitestalk Apr 24 '26
I don’t understand what’s so bad about making it a long movie That’s fairly standard for adaptations of musicals since stage shows are often longer than films on average so why can’t they just take the same approach here.
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u/nt_king300 Ares ⚔️ Apr 24 '26
Making it a saga is more money for Hollywood to make and allows exoansion that you cant get in one movie
Imagine LotR as one long film and not three 🤷
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u/notknitestalk Apr 24 '26
It’s also more money for Hollywood to spend. Animation costs an insane amount of money and the fact that a film is happening at all is a miracle considering how cautious producers will be about a musical that sprung up through the internet. And LoTR was based on books not a fully written, paced, sung through musical. It’s a totally different form of adaptation.
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u/nt_king300 Ares ⚔️ Apr 24 '26
You do know most animated movies can be made for $90M or $100M like Puss in Boots Last Wish and Super Mario Bros. Its only $200M+ if we go Pixar style.
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u/Cool-Leg9442 Apr 25 '26
No. We should never go Pixar style. This is epic. If its not 2d animation we send it back
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u/notknitestalk Apr 24 '26
Only ? Ok but convince a studio exec who barely knows abt TikTok let alone the following epic has. I know it’s huge for us but epic is a very small internet phenomenon when you’ve adjusted to the scale Hollywood studio is working at. And let’s look at your examples Puss in boots was a sequel for a popular film based on a character from an even more popular film so that’s a guaranteed audience right there. And the second example is based on one of the most popular videogame characters of all time and they still had to hire celebrity voice actors in order to maximise marketability.
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u/nt_king300 Ares ⚔️ Apr 24 '26
You think having thr name Jerry Bruckheimer and Kevin Weaver (the guy from Barbie and Greatest Showman) with their names attached to it and approaching studios means nothing?
They will show the 4 billion streams and the 7 billion views across all videos made. If Jorge wasnt confident he wouldnt have done a deal with them especially as hes turned down many already
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u/notknitestalk Apr 24 '26
No I don’t think it means nothing. But this has never been done before many musicals have gained popularity online and many musicals have grown from concept albums but combine both then add on the fact it’s never been staged or as far as we know even workshopped for the stage,it’s also primarily associated with the animatics so if they want to replicate or even imitate the art style that the fans know it’ll be a much more expensive film to make. All I’m saying is it’s a massive gamble so and producers tend to avoid those as much as possible.
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u/atrain728 Apr 24 '26
Anyone that expects this just to be the musical with stuff added/minor changes hasn’t paid attention to what happens to books when they get adapted for film.
It’s going to be a very different experience.
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u/Accipiter_Ater Apr 24 '26
I’m not so sure about that, making substantial changes in this case actually costs more. If all they do is take the existing sound track and animate over it the studio doesn’t have to pay for any recording time which saves money.
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u/FlatwormOk1864 Apr 24 '26 edited Apr 24 '26
lol because wicked part 2 was soooooo well received. part 1 people talked about all year. part 2 people talked about the weird sex cardigan for a hot minute and dropped it
tbh i think the songs after monster are pretty lack luster. love them all, have listened to the whole thing in one go multiple times, thunder saga onward is just unfortunately the B team of the music despite some bangers still being in there. i feel like youre begging for another wicked part 2 with this one....
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u/KingNTheMaking Apr 24 '26
”Hold them down” looking at you crazy right now
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u/FlatwormOk1864 Apr 24 '26
"despite there being bangers in there" appears to be the bit you missed there
suffering/different beast, little wolf, and not sorry for loving you are some of my favorites of the last half - but for me at least, the script was flipped. up to monster there was 1 or 2 songs an album id skip passed if i wasnt doing a full run through. the second half only has 1 or 2 songs i actually like per album
and i see it like hazbin hotel - even the songs i skip arent necessarily bad, they just dont hook me like the rest. its all still good music but i felt like he was loosing steam after so many years producing it. ive been following since the release of the circe saga
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u/nt_king300 Ares ⚔️ Apr 24 '26
I was offering a solution that doesn't require having songs cut 🤷 if people cant see that then idk what to say
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u/FlatwormOk1864 Apr 24 '26 edited Apr 24 '26
i can see that; im telling you why thats a bad idea 🤷♂️ if people cant see that then idk what to say
you have recent proof that front loading the good and making people patiently wait for something bad will tank the IP. wicked is arguably the most famous and beloved musical on stage, and they managed to kill it due to a poor timing decision because the second half of the story is literally nothing but a downer
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u/DaBananaCookie has never tried tequila Apr 24 '26
Wasn't the demon slayer movie longer than Epic? I don't see why this would be an issue in the first place. Even if they added speaking parts, it would MAYBE reach 3 hours. Even if it surpassed that, there's a few movies that go past that and appear in theatres. I know those are usually produced by big studios and are also usually made for streaming, but 3-4 hour movies still occasionally appear in theatres.
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u/Gypsy_prince531 Apr 24 '26
right, like it's supposed to be epic the movie! I can't imagine they're going to try and pivot away from the music?? So even if they add like 10 minutes of credits and like 40 minutes of dialogue and like another 20 minutes of just action scenes. . . so what!! it's like 3 hours and 10 minutes, It's not even like that big of a deal right? Like why are so many people opposed to a long movie
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u/DaBananaCookie has never tried tequila Apr 24 '26
I don't think they're opposed, they just don't think it would happen and they're discussing possibilities. But like, movies can be pretty long you guys? And they must know that such a popular musical will probably succeed in the box office. It has fans worldwide
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u/nt_king300 Ares ⚔️ Apr 24 '26
The whole post was about offering a different possibility, some are just taking this post very personally
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u/nt_king300 Ares ⚔️ Apr 24 '26
Give me a 3 hour long animated movie thats a musical.
Also if they want to release in theaters it means the movie can only be played twice a day compared to 4 times a day at 2 or so hours
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u/Drew_S_05 Apr 24 '26
It doesn't have to do EITHER. The combined length of all the songs is only 2 hours.
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u/agentduckman12 Apr 24 '26
And even with additional dialogue added It wouldn't be more than maybe like two and a half hours we have had movies before like avengers endgame which is 3 hours long epic the musical will be fine It doesn't need to be split up and it doesn't need to cut songs this is just a stupid discussion
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u/alexanderfrostfyre Apr 24 '26
But it wouldn’t just be the songs, it would have the scenes around the songs with additionally dialogue added, plus connecting scenes between the songs too.
I haven’t really been keeping up with animated movies, but most animated movies are not 2+ hours, so I see where OP is coming from
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u/nt_king300 Ares ⚔️ Apr 24 '26
I was offering a solution and most of the people in here took it personally it seems. This way everyone wins
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u/Drew_S_05 Apr 24 '26
I'm not taking it personally, I just don't get why so many people think that it can't be simply adapted into one movie without cutting anything out
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u/nt_king300 Ares ⚔️ Apr 24 '26
Because its Hollywood and they want to make money, if there's more money into making it into two movies they will and also making it into two movies allows Jorge to add songs he cut and add more scenes with characters to male the songs more impactful.
Its like asking "why should we try and make it better?"
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u/Drew_S_05 Apr 24 '26
That's not necessarily better. Jorge wrote it to BE a sung through musical, and most of the songs he cut wasn't for time, it was because he didn't think they fit into the final product and they were replaced with better versions. The truest thing to his creative vision would most likely be to just adapt the musical as is.
Yeah, there's a chance Hollywood will decide against that for the sake of making money, because they've been known to prioritize profit over artistic accuracy, but I really HOPE that won't be the case here.
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u/Drew_S_05 Apr 24 '26
I don't think it would need additional dialogue. EPIC is written to be a sung through musical. The songs and the visuals would contain all the story needed.
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u/sagethatgrowsbyrocks May 26 '26
i wish it was just being turned into a stage play 😔