After fewer than 10 days in theaters, the movie “Wicked” made more than $360 million worldwide, making it the highest grossing Broadway musical adaptation of all time.
Director Jon M. Chu said there was a need to make “Wicked” now — “that it was speaking to a new voice of a new generation.”
Before casting Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda, Chu said he was originally set on finding fresh faces for the movie in his largest casting call ever.
“I didn’t believe, like when Ari came in, like no way Ariana Grande could commit herself to a role like this. I knew she was funny. I knew she had great pipes, but when she came in, she became Glinda,” he said. “When those two walk in… the moment you look in their eyes, there’s no denying it, they just took those roles.”
Chu called it a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to visit Oz, a classic place from many people’s childhood.
“Munchkinland we built out of mud and thatched roofs,” he said. “The train is real, a 60-ton train on tracks that move.”
Chu, who also directed the hit movies “Crazy Rich Asians” and “In the Heights,” said he is grateful for the response and support he’s received, including from filmmaker George Lucas. He said he didn’t personally know Lucas, who called him while still at the mall after seeing the movie.
“It’s so nice when you see leaders like that, creative leaders who actually reach out. I didn’t know that happened and are just so kind and say we’re doing this together,” Chu said.
Beyond the support from Hollywood, he’s happy to see how movie-goers have connected with the film.
“That’s how feeling a part of something, I think we all feel a little bit outside of the norm, and so what Cynthia brings connects us with that feeling, that we can actually rise above. That is pretty powerful.”
Part two of “Wicked” is set to be released late next year.
“To make choices, it takes a lot of bravery. To stay in those choices, why defend a home that doesn’t want you? These are the questions that we get to explore in movie two,” Chu said.