Jon M Chu is no stranger to creating ambitious and elaborate spectacles for the big screen, with his previous box office hit Crazy Rich Asians and musical adaptation In The Heights among the many successes in his repertoire – but bringing Wicked to life was personal.
"It wasn't just personal for me, it was personal for everyone working on this movie, from the lighting people to the props people," the director told HELLO!. "The Wizard of OZ and Wicked have such a home in their hearts, so it wasn't just a musical adaptation of a Broadway show, this was a legacy piece for everybody."
Leading ladies Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande – aka Elphaba and Glinda – have made no secret of their love of the film's touching story, which Jon says is "timeless" and carries a huge weight of responsibility felt by all of the close-knit cast and crew.
Sitting down with HELLO! ahead of the film's release, the 45-year-old spoke about the pressure of taking on one of theatre's biggest shows, how Ariana Grande surprised him with her Glinda audition and revealed why friendships were forged so quickly on set.
How much pressure did you feel taking on one of Broadway's most loved productions?
J: "Every movie you take on is a lot of pressure. You're spending someone's money, you're spending years and moving your family, but this in particular, it was so personal. It wasn't just personal for me, it was personal for everyone working on this movie, from the lighting people to the props people. The Wizard of OZ and Wicked has such a home in their hearts so I think it wasn't just a musical adaptation of a Broadway show, this was a legacy piece for everybody and they poured their hearts into this. Hundred and hundreds of hands but you just get on with it, you do the work. There isn't a magic wand that's going to make it happen. So that was the main thing, let's all work as hard as we can, this is it."
How did you know Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande were perfect for the lead roles?
J: "How could you not? When Ariana came in, she was a revelation. I thought I knew who Ariana Grande was, I had my own judgements and then all of a sudden, she's Glinda. I felt like I was meeting the real Glinda for the first time and the show was based off of this person that I was meeting. I couldn't wait to share that with the world.
"When Cynthia came in, she was so moving. Words that I've heard many, many times in my life, I was hearing it for the first time. The way she says, "Something has changed within me, something is not the same," her voice breaks in that way.
"When they speak, they speak through their real-life souls and I knew if I could just get that on film, we had a movie."
"I thought I knew who Ariana Grande was, I had my own judgements and then all of a sudden, she's Glinda"
Cynthia did her own stunts for 'Defying Gravity'. Can you tell us more?
J: "Throughout the whole movie she did her own stunts, much to the dismay of us, who were like, 'Oh no, if you get hurt we can use you for two weeks and that's not ok!' but she felt very compelled. The way she uses her body, the way that Elphaba uses her body, even from grabbing something off the shelf, her hands are acting, she didn't let us use a hand double to do little shots.
"When it comes to 'Defying Gravity', the most emotionally epic moment of this movie, she said, 'I'm flying and I'm singing live' and I said, 'Well I have a prerecord ready to go, we'll be throwing wind at you, your throat might get dry, you might get tired,' and she said, 'No, I got it.'
"Then she just pours out her emotion, it hits different. She's fighting for it and it's pretty beautiful to watch."
Warning! Spoilers ahead for the Wicked movie!
Why do you think friendships formed so quickly on the set?
J: "We were walking into the unknown together, which involves a lot of trust in each other. Me, in the edit room, I could ruin all their performances, and their acting could ruin this text that was made over 20 years ago. We all felt that responsibility, not just for Wicked itself but for The Wizard of Oz, the legacy of this cinematic, iconic place and these stories that have stayed timeless.
"We felt a responsibility for this generation, the people who were coming out of Covid at this restart of humanity and what we had to do in order to fight through the ugly parts that seemed right on the horizon for us. The story talks about those things and the courage to be yourself and to reset the story. I think there was a seriousness to the job and of course, an honour that it was bestowed upon us to do that.
"We had to look each other in the eyes and say, 'We're jumping out of this plane and we're going to build this parachute together before we hit the ground'.
"I think there is a relief. You build this beautiful rainbow together so when the audience reacted the way they have with their crying, laughing and screaming, it feels like we did good."
"We were walking into the unknown together, which involves a lot of trust in each other"
Talk us through Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth's cameos
J: "We always wanted to bring them in, it was deciding whether they would.
"They couldn't have been more gracious and more kind and giving to us. We just needed to find the right thing for them and that was actually really hard. There were moments like, 'Oh, maybe Glinda's mom and Elpheba's whatever' but it always felt cheap. They're at the top of their games, this is their moment and we should give it to them.
"Stephen Schwartz [composer of the original production] said, 'We need the story to understand The Grimmerie and the history of the Wizard, we can make this a big number where they are the biggest stage stars in Oz.'
"It just felt right and they could be in these beautiful dresses and the girls would be watching them just like we used to watch them on the stage. It felt like it just fit like a glove.
"We snuck them on to set in the dark of night and shot all night long. It was really beautiful, it was almost this healing night where they gave us their blessing. We got to tell them that we wanted to make this movie in honour of them so they could watch Wicked as an outsider and feel what we felt when we first saw them and mirror back the gift they had given the world."
WICKED opens in UK cinemas 22nd November.