Jon M. Chu smiling during Wicked Part 1 interview
Another hit Broadway musical is making its way to the big screen, as Wicked arrives in theaters on November 22. Directed by Crazy Rich Asians' Jon M. Chu, Wicked is the first movie in a two-part extravaganza that expands on the original production. The musical is an adaptation of Gregory Maguire's novel of the same name, which in turn is a creative retelling of L. Frank Baum's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the perspective of the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good .
ScreenRant interviewed Chu about his vision for Oz in Wicked, how he approached the expanded story in order to make"Defying Gravity" the emotional highlight, and why fans will have the delightful experience of actually seeing Dorothy on the Yellow Brick Road. We tried to pull animals that have been mentioned in those books. I think in the books they mentioned that it was connected all by waterways, which gave us the idea for Shiz. Of course, I was working with Nathan Crowley, who's an amazing production designer. He's a troublemaker. He loves to build, and he really pushed me. He was like,"No, we're going to build that water.
Jon M. Chu: There are micro adjustments across the board because, in order for one movie to feel satisfying and not just half a movie, we had to move backwards from what"Defying Gravity" would do."Defying Gravity" couldn't just be a closing number; it had to tie up what we were rooting for this whole time.
Everyone sings, but in that moment in"The Wizard and I," everything quiets down, and she starts to sing her little whispers. You're like,"Oh my gosh, she can sing. She can sing better than any of these people." To me, those little differences make us root for her in a way that reshifts the whole balance of the show to allow"Defying Gravity" to be the thing that we want.
But the presence is important because that plays a significant role in what will happen and how they intersect. That was sort of how we played with it. But you'll have to see movie 2 to know how far we go with her.
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