Wicked Director Reveals How Much They Drew From the Original Book

On November 22, Universal Pictures will release the Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo led loose film adaptation of the Broadway hit, Wicked. Based on the 1995 novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. In the book, it retells the iconic story from L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz. Director Jon M. Chu and star Jonathan Bailey (who plays Fiyero) recently sat down with ComicBook to discuss the upcoming film and how it differs from the counterparts it’s based on.

“It wasn’t really about the content of the book, it was about the room of the characters that were created on the stage that I felt the audience needed or I need,” Chu explained when asked about what he adapted from book to screen. “To see the full realization when we were in the theater, we fill a lot in with our heads. I imagined her actually flying around us so when I went back I [was] like, ‘oh, she doesn’t actually fly around us?’ I just wanted to fulfill those moments.

And emotionally, there’s a lot moments like what happens when they actually move into the dorm room for the first time. That’s not done in song, but what is the awkward thing and what are you revealing about the relationship? Why do they actually need to see each other in the end? To me, those were really fun elements to just sort of flesh out.”

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What is Wicked About?

Wicked follows Elphaba (Erivo), a young woman who is misunderstood for her green skin, and Glinda (Grande) a student with an unflinching desire for popularity who forge an unlikely friendship. “Following an encounter with the Wizard of Oz, their relationship soon reaches a crossroad as their lives begin to take very different paths.”

One full calendar year later, Wicked: Part Two will hit theaters. When initially announced, fans were shocked to hear that it wouldn’t be a single film. Instead, Chu understood that in order to flesh things out the way he wanted, it couldn’t be rushed or condensed into one film. With more space, we can tell the story of Wicked as it was meant to be told while bringing even more depth and surprise to the journeys for these beloved characters,” Chu said in an official statement at the time.

Wicked releases in theaters on November 22.