Jon M. Chu addressed fans who have been crossing their fingers for more Wicked-related projects on the way.
Chu, 46, was asked whether he plans on continuing the franchise at the premiere of Wicked: For Good in São Paulo, Brazil, on Tuesday, November 4.
“Will this be the end of the Yellow Brick Road?” Telemundo’s Irasema Torres asked the director on the red carpet.
The Crazy Rich Asians director replied, “Listen, you never know, but yes. As far as I know, this was always meant to be a two-movie experience.”
Chu described Wicked and its sequel as “a journey over a year of time that everyone can take [in] this era [and] bring their friends, their family and get to know these women, dress up like them and be like them [and] be inspired by them.”
The filmmaker reiterated, “This is the end of an era, but you never know.”
When asked again whether he is contemplating a Wicked “spinoff,” Chu said, “I am not. You never know. People want that, but they have to see movie two first. Maybe the audience could tell us.”
Wicked: For Good, which is due in theaters November 21, stars Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh and Bowen Yang. Yang, 34, previously confirmed the sequel will have a time jump following Elphaba (Erivo) finding out that the Wizard (Goldblum) is a fraud who’s suppressing the animals in Oz.
“Right when we pick up, Glinda is in this very front-facing position. Pfannee and Shenshen (Bronwyn James) are at her side still, but a lot is in motion,” Yang told Today.com in December 2024. “The world has literally changed, and the landscape of it is very different. There is this campaign against this one person that they’re like the reason for all the problems in the world.”
“The story is so flexible with how it relates to our real world,” he added.
While Wicked: For Good promises a colorful and captivating look at the classic story of Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West, there’s one part of the tale that fans of The Wizard of Oz will not be seeing in the sequel — a central character’s face.
Chu confirmed viewers will not see Dorothy’s face in Wicked: For Good despite her character being teased in the trailer.
“I didn’t want to step on who you think Dorothy is in whatever story that you came into this with. She’s probably more in this story than in the show and yet not taking over the story — it is still Elphaba and Glinda’s journey, and she is a pawn in the middle of all of it,” Chu told People in an interview published Friday, October 31.
He continued, “I love that these two worlds get to collide in this movie. It’s the thing that we’ve all been waiting for.”
Viewers will get to see the “origin stories of classic characters” the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, and the Scarecrow told like never before. Chu also hinted that one of the characters will face a “shocking” fate.