Jon M. Chu talks about expanding the stories of Glinda and Elphaba for the second part of the movie “Wicked”
Evil: for good It will feature new original songs for Ariana Grande’s Glinda and Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba, which will expand their stories beyond their original theatrical narratives, director Jon M. Chu said this morning during a panel at Deadline’s Contenders London.
Speaking with Deadline’s Baz Bamigboye, Cho said he remembers seeing one of the first performances of the original Wicked and always prefers the second half of the play.
“I had seen the show in front of everyone on Broadway, so I was kind of patient. I remember what it felt like to see this new Stephen Schwartz musical. And I thought the second half was the reason for that,” Cho said.
“Set it all up and then it explodes. That’s the fantasy side. The second half is their adult selves looking at their dreams and hopes and what they thought the world was and their stories, and it’s all shattered.”
In order to highlight these decisions in a second film, Cho said he and his collaborators expanded several parts of the original production, including adding new songs.
“For me, I think what the second half needs is to learn more about these individual women’s experiences,” he said. “How lonely you feel when you make a choice like that and have to stand up to authority and feel like you’re the only person doing that. It’s a very heavy and lonely experience… And what happens when you’re someone like Glenda who has this bubble of protection, where you never have to deal with the truth if you don’t want to. Are you able to burst your own bubble of privilege? For me, those were the biggest questions that the community asked.” evil The saga.”
“We needed more songs, because we needed more avenues into that mindset,” Cho added. “Musicals are great because they’re not about being bigger, but about getting deeper into these characters and minds and what they’re going through. So we have new songs that allow us to see how they deal with these ideas, and the audience can experience them.”
Earlier this week, we reported on this Evil: for good Became Fandango’s top Day 1 ticket advance seller for 2025, surpassing Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle, Taylor Swift: Showgirl Official Launch Party, and Superman.
Evil: for good It now ranks among Fandango’s top 10 Day 1 ticket advance sellers of all time, which includes blockbuster movies like Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: No Way Homeand Taylor Swift | Tour of the ages. Additionally, the film is the best advance seller of PG first-day tickets ever on the platform, surpassing… Frozen, lion king, and K-Pop Demon Hunters: Singing Event. the first evil It also opened on the weekend before Thanksgiving a year ago, recording the best opening ever for a feature film Broadway play ($112.5 million) as well as becoming the highest-grossing big-screen version of the Great White Way show with $473.2 million domestically and $756.4 million worldwide.
“Wicked: For Good” hits theaters on November 21.