Director Jon M. Chu thinks of both Wicked movies as one big epic like the Lord of the Rings films
Jon M. Chu dedicated five years of his life and career to the two film adaptations of the hit Broadway play Wicked. Wicked: For Good finally opens next month and Chu spoke with Variety on an upcoming episode of the Awards Circuit podcast and talked about taking on the task. The director says he felt the pressure back when the project was first greenlit during the Covid pandemic. He explained, “There were times that I would lay on the ground in my kitchen after just prep and be like, ‘I don’t know. I hope this all works out.’ But I love this job because we can take big swings. It’s the only medium where you can get thousands of people to build a spaceship, essentially, and take people to another planet.”
Chu revealed that he basically looked at both movies as one giant epic. He expounded, “It is one movie to me. When I was thinking of every arc, we were thinking of it as one giant chunk.” He looks back at the rewarding, but daunting experience and says, “When you live with something for five-plus years, and you dream about it and you wake up with nightmares right in front of you, it sticks with you. I have not processed it yet.” Chu was also surprised at how emotional it was saying goodbye to the world of Oz, “Everyone was very emotional, and I couldn’t feel it yet. I was like, ‘No, I’ll see you next week.’ But I think the office is empty now, which is really sad.”
John Chu directs from a screenplay by Winnie Holzman (who is credited twice?) and Dana Fox. The cast includes Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Marissa Bode, with Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum.
The official studio description for the upcoming second part to the musical reads,
Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), now demonized as The Wicked Witch of the West, lives in exile, hidden within the Ozian forest while continuing her fight for the freedom of Oz’s silenced Animals and desperately trying to expose the truth she knows about The Wizard (Jeff Goldblum).
Glinda, meanwhile, has become the glamorous symbol of Goodness for all of Oz, living at the palace in Emerald City and reveling in the perks of fame and popularity. Under the instruction of Madame Morrible (Oscar® winner Michelle Yeoh), Glinda is deployed to serve as an effervescent comfort to Oz, reassuring the masses that all is well under the rule of The Wizard.
As Glinda’s stardom expands and she prepares to marry Prince Fiyero (Olivier award winner and Emmy and SAG nominee Jonathan Bailey) in a spectacular Ozian wedding, she is haunted by her separation from Elphaba. She attempts to broker a conciliation between Elphaba and The Wizard, but those efforts will fail, driving Elphaba and Glinda only further apart. The aftershocks will transform Boq (Tony nominee Ethan Slater) and Fiyero forever, and threaten the safety of Elphaba’s sister, Nessarose (Marissa Bode), when a girl from Kansas comes crashing into all their lives.
As an angry mob rises against the Wicked Witch, Glinda and Elphaba will need to come together one final time. With their singular friendship now the fulcrum of their futures, they will need to truly see each other, with honesty and empathy, if they are to change themselves, and all of Oz, for good.
Wicked: For Good is produced by returning Tony and Emmy-winning powerhouse Marc Platt p.g.a. and by multiple Tony winner David Stone. The executive producers are Stephen Schwartz, David Nicksay, Jared LeBoff, Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox.
Wicked: For Good flies into cinemas on November 21.
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