‘Wicked’ director Jon Chu says all ‘Wizard of Oz’ works have come at historic turns

“Wicked” director Jon M. Chu reflected on how the feature film could take on greater significance in the wake of the election.

In an interview with NBC News, he pointed out that Oz works have always come out in times of national change and reckoning: World War I, 9/11 and now the 2024 election. He said he hopes people can get a message about resilience and belonging.

“‘The Wizard of Oz’ was always kind of prophetic in a way,” Chu said. “It was written at a time when America was in transition. At that time, the Depression had just ended and they were about to go to war. And then it’s always a question of what the American dream looks like when the road ends , and what are the possibilities for the next one.”

“Wicked,” starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, is an adaptation of the hit Broadway musical loosely based on the 1995 novel of the same name. The film and novel expand on the 1900 novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” and its 1939 film adaptation, “The Wizard of Oz.”

NBC News and NBCUniversal, the distributor of “Wicked,” share Comcast as the parent company. “Wicked” gives a sympathetic revision to the Wicked Witch of the West, named Elphaba, who seeks to take on the Wizard and his propaganda against her and the animals of Oz.

Born with green skin, Elphaba endures a life of discrimination until she befriends Glinda, the good witch, and embarks on an adventure to meet the wizard – only to find herself branded evil and outcast once again when she rejects his request to do his magical bidding, she finds immoral.

Chu said the musical adaptation, which premiered on Broadway in 2003, was also coincidentally released at a significant time.

“When ‘Wicked’ came out, it was a re-examination of that,” Chu said. “It was right after 9/11 and about to go to war. So another time when America is changing.”

The upcoming film’s release comes on the heels of President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory, which Chu said reinforces the film’s message. “This is the road we travel,” Chu said. “And there’s no yellow brick road and maybe no wizard. Being uncomfortable, maybe yelling at each other a little, forgiving each other, having a little mercy for each other is the only way out.”

Chu also said he was surprised by the project’s timing when it came to him.

“When this came to my desk, it was during the pandemic, and I felt, wow, this thing is so prophetic,” Chu said. “How does it know we would get through this? We questioned all the stories about America, about the world. Who’s in control? Who’s telling it? What does a hero look like? What does a villain look like?”