Wicked tells a universal story of resilience, says Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu

NEW YORK – The musical fantasy film Wicked is an adaptation of the stage musical of the same name. That hit production was itself a revisionist take on the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz and the classic 1939 Judy Garland film it inspired, The Wizard Of Oz.

Opening in Singapore cinemas on Nov 21, the movie stars American pop star Ariana Grande as a young woman named Glinda, who will later become Glinda the Good Witch of the North, and British actress-singer Cynthia Erivo as her college roommate Elphaba, who eventually becomes the Wicked Witch of the West.

Chinese-American director Jon M. Chu sees echoes of his family’s immigrant past in this iconic story, which he believes everyone sees a bit of themselves in.

Speaking at a recent question-and-answer event with the cast in New York City, he recalls watching the tryout production of Wicked the musical in San Francisco just a few months before it opened on Broadway in 2003.

“It just blew me away, sitting in the dark watching it. It swept me away like movies did when I was a little kid, but it was live theatre,” says the 45-year-old, who directed 2018’s Crazy Rich Asians, the hit romantic comedy set in Singapore.

That magical stage production became his touchstone two decades later when he made this film, the first of a two-parter, with Wicked Part Two to be released in November 2025.

“When we were making the movie, I would remember what it felt like to see Glinda float in the bubble coming down, and what it felt like when she rose into the sky,” says Chu. He also helmed the musical movie In The Heights (2021) and dance films Step Up 2: The Streets (2008) and Step Up 3D (2010).

But the origin story also resonates with the film-maker’s own family history.

“The Wizard Of Oz is so personal to everybody, and it’s personal to my family as immigrants,” says Chu.

He was born in California to a Taiwanese mother and Sichuanese father, owners of a well-known Chinese restaurant in San Francisco’s Bay Area, Chef Chu’s.

He sees their journey reflected in The Wizard Of Oz’s yellow brick road, a symbolic pathway that leads to the Emerald City.

There, the protagonist Dorothy – played by Garland in the 1939 film – meets the all-powerful Wizard of the land of Oz, whom she hopes will help her return home.

“My family came over that yellow brick road, and (we looked for) the wizard that would give you your heart’s desire.

“We all have our pieces in this – it’s the American fairy tale about the American dream,” says Chu. He is married to American graphic designer Kristin Hodge and has five children, the oldest aged seven and the youngest a newborn.

Wicked and The Wizard Of Oz tell a universal story of resilience, he adds.

“What’s interesting is the timelessness of it. These scenarios always existed and the resilience of the people always rises above it. And I love that we get to remind people that you have to just keep walking,” Chu says.

The film-maker drew a parallel between this movie and the ground-breaking Crazy Rich Asians. The latter was the first major Hollywood production in 25 years to feature an all-Asian cast, and made many viewers feel both inspired and represented on screen.

For him, the challenge in making Wicked was “how to get the big scope, and use the tools of cinema, to sweep people away”.

“Because I really believe that movies – and I saw it with Crazy Rich Asians – can change things and make a difference,” Chu says.

“And when you see it, there’s no going back.”