‘Wicked’ Director Jon M. Chu Says Real-Time Fan Reaction ‘Affects Everything’ in Part 2 Edit: ‘They’re Really Paying Attention to Every Detail’

As “Wicked” fans celebrate the musical’s nominations this awards season, director Jon M. Chu is paying close attention to the real-time reaction as he edits Part 2.

“I’m living two timelines right now I’ve been in the edit all week,” Chu told press at the Critics Choice Awards after his win for best director. “This morning, I’m literally screening the movie for our internal crew to just get a sense of how it plays, and then I’m jumping over to here to celebrate a movie that’s already made with all the same actors and a lot of the same things — it’s mind boggling thing to go through that.”

Chu said that while he didn’t think the real-time response would impact the Part 2 cut, he said it “absolutely affects everything that we’re doing,” saying “I’m more in the head space of where the fans are, whereas before, we had to cover our bases a little bit more for everybody.”

“We went back into the cut [and were] like, ‘oh, wait, they’re really paying attention to every detail’ … how we plan on paying certain things off?” Chu continued. “Maybe we can be more subtle with that. Or maybe we don’t have to remind them so much — they can just jump into this movie … we learned this part, but we can actually really expand that here, or or pull back on certain things.”

Chu won best director in a stacked category, despite being snubbed for a best director nomination at the Oscars. He made light of the snub in his speech, joking “I’m going to win that Oscar!”

“For this movie, I think it deserves to be seen,” Chu said backstage after his win. “I think it deserves to be loved and praised all the ways, because the work of thousands of people of human hands building every set piece and every and all the work of the girls — it’s been the journey of my life to to witness that.”

“Wicked,” which stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda, launched on Nov. 22, 2024, and its follow-up film, “Wicked: For Good,” is slated to debut on Nov. 21, 2025.

“If you love those two women, wait until you see where their relationship goes … and the places that we can go — Oz is bigger. It’s more expansive,” Chu said. “And in the time that we’re living in, it speaks so directly to the moment and to the courage and the consequences it takes to some of the choices that we make and who you choose to become when you know the truth.”

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