It’s evident when The Weekly chats to director Jon M. Chu that he’s immensely proud of Wicked.
But so he should be.
The film – which is an adaptation of the Broadway show of the same name and Part 1 of 2 – smashed box office records left, right and centre.
Not to mention, Wicked: Part 1 just picked up an award at the 2025 Golden Globes.
Jon admits that while the next-level reception to Wicked took him by surprise, he’s extremely grateful; especially to the fans.
“To know that people care as much as they do; that they’re making Wicked a part of their everyday life. My heart is very full,” he says.
But Jon also teases that there’s plenty of Easter eggs in Wicked: Part 1 that people haven’t spotted yet.
“I’ve asked my wife, ‘I wonder when they’ll see that? Oh my gosh, they don’t even know! Wait until they see Part 2 and they have to go back to that moment.’”
Thankfully, fans can easily look for these hidden nods to their heart’s content as Wicked: Part 1 is now available exclusively on digital platforms to buy or rent.
But before you go hunting, read The Weekly’s full interview with Wicked director Jon M. Chu below!
The Weekly: Were you expecting Wicked to become the cultural phenomenon it did or were you surprised?
Jon: I mean, I knew people loved Wicked [the Broadway show] and people loved The Wizard of Oz. But this level is just unpredicted; you cannot plan that.
You can try as much as you can to get people to the movie theatres to see it and feel it but this feels like everyone’s in the edit room with me. Now it feels like they were there with us the whole time and that is the best feeling in the world; probably the greatest feeling a filmmaker can have.
At least for me, to know that people care as much as they do; they’re making Wicked a part of their everyday life. My heart is very full, let me put it that way.
How did you approach adapting Wicked for the big screen while staying true to the stage version?
I was patient zero on that show. I saw it before it was ever on Broadway and I had no expectations. [But] I remember very specifically the moments I wanted to protect; the moments that took me by surprise.
So, I think I had an advantage in a weird way; [I was] one of the few people who had experienced it in a way that was fresh. So I knew those places to protect. And then at a certain point, I had to just let the rest go.
But I knew it couldn’t be not Wicked; there were versions of this script that were not Wicked. And I was like, ‘Guys, you have it! I saw it! Do that! But let’s give it the tools that cinema can give it to expand; let’s dive into Elphaba. Let’s dive into the relationship. We know that’s what everybody loves anyway.’
And [the film] became something different [thanks to] the way Cynthia Erivo interprets Elphaba and the way Ariana Grande interprets Glinda; they created different scenes – even with the same words, even with the same lyrics.
And I think that’s what people are actually feeling; a rediscovery. I think that speaks to the granular work of these girls and why they deserve every flower in the world. And our crew, from Nathan Crowley [the production designer] to Alice Brooks the cinematographer, to Paul Tazewell in costuming, and hair and makeup; everybody!
Wicked is full of Easter eggs, but is there an Easter egg that fans haven’t spotted yet?
Yes. There’s so many. I’ve asked my wife, ‘I wonder when they’ll see that? Oh my gosh, they don’t even know! Wait until they see Part 2 and they have to go back to that moment.’
I really can’t tell you too much because I think the fun of it, especially when they get it on home video or when they see it over and over in the movie theatre, that they will find it.
There are things that I thought first week people would find [but] they didn’t find it until now.
And so, I never like it when filmmakers tell me everything so I’m going to leave it for people to discover; but it is so full of stuff.
It’s so evident that Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande have a real bond; did you get to watch that develop during the filming of Wicked or was it instantaneous?
I got to watch it because we cast them separately, not during a chemistry read. Even though they both read with other people.
I just knew that [Ariana] was definitely Glinda and that [Cynthia] was definitely Elphaba. And we, sort of, trusted our instincts that if you find the right Elphaba and you find the right Glinda, it’s gonna work. It’s gonna be interesting. Whether they actually get along in real life, I didn’t know but sometimes that doesn’t matter to the camera; energy is energy.
But when Cynthia and Ariana came to my house to meet for the first time, with Steven Schwartz and Winnie [Holzman], we all had dinner and then Steven started playing piano. He played For Good and the girls, unrehearsed, just started singing it.
It was spiritual. It was something I had never witnessed in my life; those two voices coming together. That’s when I knew. I’ve got to lean in and get this on camera.
And finally, which song in Wicked: For Good [Part 2] should we hold space for?
I mean, if you know, you know. There’s No Good Deed, it tears the roof off of this place.
For Good – that’s the best song in the whole thing!
If you’ve gone through the two movies and know the relationship [between Elphaba and Glinda], you know how much that song can make you feel. Actually, you don’t know because I’ve seen it and you just can’t imagine how it makes you feel after going on this journey with them.
Also, there are new songs in Wicked Part 2 that are very nice and ask questions that haven’t been asked before. You just get deeper… I can’t wait for people to feel that. I think that Nessa and Boq have such a great turn in Part 2, so does Fiyero; I think the whole thing is really delicious.
Wicked: Part 1 is now available exclusively on digital platforms to buy or rent. You can do so via Apple TV+ and/or Amazon Prime Video. And for fans in Sydney, you’ll be able to snag free pink and green Wicked zinc sticks at Bondi Beach on January 11 and 12 in honour of the home release!
