“Wicked” is all the rage lately, and the director of the film adaptation can’t seem to be happier with the timing of it all. Released last month, the feature film follows the Broadway musical’s 2003 debut.
This Tuesday (3), Jon M. Chu spoke with John Berman from CNN about his hit musical starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo . “There has to be a reason for a film to be made, an urgency, and I think the time is right,” he says.
“You have to find the right Elphaba and Glinda, and it turns out that Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande were reaching that point in their careers where they were able to show another side of themselves that maybe people hadn’t seen, and of course, I had I have to watch a bunch of movies and learn my lessons before I’m here to do this,” he added. “I don’t know all the things, but I think the time is right.”
Erivo plays Elphaba, a green witch who suffers discrimination and rejection for being different. One of the character’s most famous moments in both the film and the Broadway musical is when the character sings the song “Defying Gravity”.
The lyrics reflect a person who decides to take control of her life, as she sings that she is “tired of playing by the rules of someone else’s game.”
“I think times have changed, even after Covid, those words ‘something has changed inside me, some things are not the same’ in ‘Defying Gravity’ meant something different,” Chu told CNN .
“For me, there’s all this uncertainty about what the future holds and ‘Wicked’ gets right into that, about what it’s like to stand up to tell the story, when you reveal the truth and discover all these things, what you become and what kind of story are you going to tell?”, he adds.
With the film currently making magic at the box office, there is growing anticipation for the second part, scheduled for release in November 2025.
Chu teased that the sequel will have some new songs and questions. “If movie one is about choices, movie two is about consequences and why you defend a home that maybe doesn’t want you and what the meaning of home is,” he said. “I think those things are really interesting questions.”
“Wicked” had the best debut for a Broadway musical adaptation; learn more.
“Wicked”: director explains reason for expanding “Defying Gravity”
This content was originally published in “This is the right moment”, says director of “Wicked” about the adaptation of the musical on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m Robert Neff, a professional writer and editor. I specialize in the entertainment section, providing up-to-date coverage on the latest developments in film, television and music. My work has been featured on World Stock Market and other prominent publications.
