John M. Chu took different approach to ‘Wicked’ films

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first in a series of stories looking at “Wicked: For Good.”

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — It has been almost a year since moviegoers crowded into theaters to see the big-screen version of Gregory Maguire’s best-selling novel, Wicked. That long wait for the second half to be released was not absolutely necessary as director John M. Chu shot “Wicked” and “Wicked: For Good” at the same time.

The process for filming two movies at once was to spend Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday on “Wicked.” Thursday and Friday were spent on “Wicked: For Good.” He found taking on both massive projects at the same time with that approach made the process easier for him.

“I felt more free in part two to be honest. We thought of it as one, but when you cut both movies, I wanted to prepare the studio to know that movie one is going to be different from moving two tonally. I did not want them to think of it as a sequel in their minds,” Chu says.

With past films, Chu would show the studio a rough cut of his feature film 10 weeks after the production ended. Because he was making two movies at the same time, Chu was able to push showing his rough cuts to 15 weeks. That gave him more time to make sure that the films were as close to finished as possible.

“Wicked” was the story of how Glenda (Ariana Grande) and Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) meet and become close friends. “Wicked: For Good” has Elphaba demonized as The Wicked Witch of the West and forced to live in exile while continuing her fight for the freedom of Oz’s silenced animals.

Glinda has become the glamorous symbol of Goodness for all of Oz, living at the palace in Emerald City and reveling in the perks of fame and popularity. But she begins to have doubts in terms of what is good and what is evil.

The element that remained the constant center for Chu with the second film was that “Wicked: For Good” would be about courage in all its forms. For Elphaba, that means being willing to sacrifice her hopes and dreams to stand up to oppression. For Glinda, it is about finding the courage to step out of her comfort zone and help her friend change the world.

Chu compares Elphaba’s fight against cruelty to Atticus Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

“He stands up for what’s right, regardless of the personal costs. We love these moral heroes because we all want to believe that if we were faced with the same choices, we would be Atticus or Elphaba, too,” Chu says. “But most of us, if we are honest with ourselves, are more like Glinda. We are often a little scared. We calculate the risk of speaking out.

“We want to do the right thing, but we are afraid to risk what we have. Luckily, heroism has power and value no matter when we summon it.”

With his core elements in place the task for Chu was to build a bridge between the two films.

“This fairytale was about the things that were taught by watching movies or reading books or what our parents taught us when we were young. These hopes and these dreams, and then the reality of it. And then having the courage to step out of being who you are,” Chu says. “Movie two is reality. Movie two is what happens when you realize standing up is a lot more lonely. You don’t have a lot of friends.”

This element of “Wicked: For Good” was something Chu understood on a very personal level. He recalls during his early days of thinking he was going to be a successful filmmaker only to be slapped with the reality that many thought he was a delivery boy when he showed up in their office.

Chu showed Hollywood his directing skills with such productions as “In the Heights,” “Crazy Rich Asians” and “G.I. Joe: Retaliation.” His “Wicked” became the most successful Broadway film adaptation of all time and earned 10 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture.

The years Chu worked on other projects ended up being the training he would need to handle all the big aspects of the “Wicked” films.

“It felt so right. I’m so happy that I had to go through 10 years of making studio franchise sequels that, at the end of the day, I was like, do I have to keep proving myself and then realizing, I don’t have to prove myself. I know how to do these movies,” Chu says. “So, when I look at ‘Wicked,’ I’m like, this is everything. It’s all the American dream stories that I got.”

TOMORROW: Cynthia Erivo talks about playing Elphaba.

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