Wicked Director Jon M. Chu Discusses Splitting the Musical Into 2 Films

You wouldn’t cognize it from the trailers but it’ll beryllium precise evident erstwhile the lights spell down. Wicked, which hits theaters this week, is just portion 1 of the story. It’s close determination successful the film’s rubric erstwhile it begins (the rubric paper says “Wicked Part One”) and it’s the past happening you’re reminded of astatine the extremity (“To beryllium continued” fills the screen). This has been nationalist knowledge since April of 2022 but it wasn’t a large selling point, for evident reasons. Audiences don’t similar to cognize they’re lone getting fractional a movie. Just inquire Tom Cruise.

Recently io9 spoke to Wicked manager Jon M. Chu, who not lone defended the decision, helium explained however it was 1 of the cardinal decisions that made the movie imaginable astatine all. Read astir that, arsenic good arsenic however the 2nd movie impacted shooting, below.

This interrogation has been edited for magnitude and clarity. We’ll person much from Chu aboriginal this week.

Germain Lussier, io9: Were you portion of the determination to marque Wicked into 2 films?

Jon M. Chu: Yes for sure. [Universal] was dancing backmost and distant and I deliberation that was portion of the occupation of getting it started. They kept going “Oh it’s 1 movie, nary it’s 2 movies.” I had to travel and beryllium like, “We request to marque a prime with this.” You cannot marque a bully 1 movie oregon 2 movies by dancing backmost and forth. Commit to 2 movies close now, otherwise, we’re ne'er making those 2 movies good. I committedness you that. We tin ever alteration our minds, but we cannot deliberation astir it close now. That’s what we committed to. And erstwhile you perpetrate to that, past you tin propulsion this happening isolated and find what we request to. The crippled holes we request to fill, and the things we request to physique to physique up to “Defying Gravity.” So that was a large choice.

io9: Knowing you had to marque this movie satisfying connected its own, however did you spell astir achieving that?

Chu: It was truly astir moving backward from “Defying Gravity.” What we discovered was the position of the movie had to beryllium antithetic than the show. In the show, Galinda comes down connected her bubble and she’s fundamentally the big of the night. It’s benignant of vaudevillian. She’s going to bring you into the story. She’s going to instrumentality you retired of the story. We don’t person the different broadside of that to spell with. Eventually we will, but not this one. In a weird way, the assemblage is with her astatine the opening of the theatre amusement due to the fact that this greenish miss pops successful and she’s the outlier. That’s the weird one. Whereas successful the movie, the assemblage has to judge the satellite that you’re gathering for the archetypal 10 minutes. So they’re singing and dancing, which is inactive an oddity successful a movie. And past the mean greenish miss walks successful and she’s like, “What the hellhole did I conscionable locomotion into?” That gag is different. That one-liner gag is precise antithetic successful this.

And erstwhile that changes, present we’re with that girl. Now we get to spot her successful her younker and beryllium teased. We get to basal for her successful this philharmonic world. She’s similar “Why is everyone singing?” And past successful “The Wizard and I” you perceive the small susurration of her dependable and you spot “Oh she sings arsenic beautifully arsenic immoderate of them and she’s going to spell for that. Wow. It’s successful her.” So you’re utilizing the signifier of the philharmonic to really assistance evoke the communicative and that helps propulsion it to the adjacent level. Now you’re like, “What bash we privation for that girl?” And if we travel that path, that’s what we did. Okay, past however does she determination into a dorm country and conscionable Galinda? You can’t conscionable person different opus conscionable to person them astatine each other’s throats. What is that awkward thing? What are they discovering astir each other? Why bash they request each different ultimately? So we’re discovering a batch of things successful that scene. So there’s small moments that we conscionable way on the mode to assistance marque “Defying Gravity” the extremity of this movie. Complete your affectional journey, fulfill choices made, past the 2nd movie is the consequences.

Chu and his formed – Image: Universal

io9: How did you consciousness astir the selling determination to not enactment “Part One” oregon immoderate singing successful the trailers?

Chu: I mean, selling has its ain strategy for each those things. I deliberation we were beauteous wide that determination are 2 parts from the precise beginning. I had a statement, did the full thing, everyone reacted. I knew that determination was going to beryllium a definite reaction. But I besides knew that erstwhile you really look astatine the nuts and bolts of it, it was precise clear. There was nary question. Either it’s not Wicked and you’re stripping retired each these songs oregon you’re changing the communicative truthful overmuch that it’s not going to beryllium the Wicked that you want. I knew we were making the close choice, truthful we went on with that and marketing—how they bash it, I don’t cognize however they bash it. But I understood what those choices were.

And I felt similar everybody knew it was a philharmonic anyway. We had philharmonic trailers and things similar that. What radical don’t deliberation about, and this is difficult, is erstwhile you’re really cutting a trailer, erstwhile you person euphony successful determination and they’re singing, moving their mouths, each the songs are successful antithetic keys. And however bash you leap from 1 opus to different successful an organic, trailer way, wherever you lone person 2 minutes to bash it? It’s actually, technically, precise difficult. And they were dancing astatine antithetic rhythms and things. It becomes a messiness precise quickly. So adjacent the ones we did release, I thought it was intolerable to chopped each those songs together. And they recovered definite things and they had to transportation things otherwise and it’s not precisely however I would emotion to bash it, but it does link the songs and you request to bash that. But it’s technically precise challenging. It’s not conscionable a prime that, “Oh, we can’t.” How bash you spell from “The Wizard and I” to “Defying Gravity” without changing the key? It’s precise difficult.

io9: Tell maine a small spot astir the filming process for some films and wherefore you decided that.

Chu: We changeable them astatine the aforesaid time. So it was benignant of artifact shooting, I guess. But locations had to change. Munchkinland is benignant of our municipality quadrate successful Back to the Future wherever it’s perpetually changing. The location is present crashed successful there, and the location is not there. It’s earlier the Yellow Brick Road is built there, and past erstwhile the Yellow Brick Road is there. So that became a centerpiece. We had to determination successful and determination retired of that determination according to what portion of the movie. We besides had antithetic histrion times. You know, you get Michelle Yeoh for a definite magnitude of time. She’s up for an Oscar astatine that clip truthful you’re “All right, we’ve got to sprout each of her worldly close here.” So determination are logistical reasons for that. But I’m truly gladsome we did due to the fact that I deliberation going retired of it and going backmost successful would beryllium precise difficult.

We had to bash that for the strike. We had to travel backmost to bash “Defying Gravity,” which was emotionally hard for Cynthia [Erivo] and Ari [Grande]. [Erivo] had trained a twelvemonth to bash those stunts and to cognize wherever to enactment her voice. And abruptly for six months she’s not doing it. Then she has to travel back. For us, it really truly helped successful the extremity due to the fact that we got to stitchery our vigor again. We had been shooting for 160 days astatine that point. And I deliberation she dropped successful truthful rapidly and easily. And Ari besides dropped successful truly easily. They were these characters and it was not arsenic hard arsenic I thought it would be.

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That’s conscionable a sensation of our afloat interrogation with Chu. Check backmost soon for much connected however helium got progressive with the production, his process, and the fascinating communicative down getting the show-stopping finale, “Finding Gravity,” conscionable right. Wicked is successful theaters Friday. Part Two is retired adjacent year.

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