Wicked director Jon M. Chu hits back at one major criticism about the film

Wicked is a worldwide box office smash – but director Jon M. Chu won’t accept one common criticism about his new movie.

Wicked director Jon M. Chu has hit back at one common complaint of the new film, after an interviewer queried the “desaturated” colour palette of his version of Oz.

While the film has garnered rave reviews and has scored the biggest box office debut for a musical adaptation in history ($US114 million in the US in its opening weekend), some have complained about the somewhat muted colours on show in the movie, particularly compared to the technicolour palette of 1939’s original The Wizard of Oz film.

In a new interview for The Globe and Mail, journalist Radheyan Simonpillai asks Chu about the “aesthetic” of the film, noting that “Wicked is a little desaturated” compared to the “glorious technicolour” of The Wizard of Oz.

Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba in Wicked …

And Judy Garland in 1939’s The Wizard of Oz. Picture: Kobal Collection / MGM.

Chu didn’t necessarily agree with that observation.

“I mean, there’s colour all over it. I think what we wanted to do was immerse people into Oz, to make it a real place. Because if it was a fake place, if it was a dream in someone’s mind, then the real relationships and the stakes that these two girls are going through wouldn’t feel real,” he said.

Chu also said he wanted to present the land of Oz in a different way to previous film adaptations like The Wizard of Oz and 2013’s Oz: The Great and Powerful.

“It’s been a matte painting. It’s been a video game digital world. But for us, I want to feel the dirt. I want to feel the wear and tear of it. And that means it’s not plastic,” he said.

Chu said he didn’t want Wicked to feel “plastic”: “I want to feel the wear and tear of it.”

He said that the two lead characters, Elphaba and Glinda, have an important “relationship with the land” that he wanted to represent on screen.

However, Chu’s explanation has been met with some opposition from those who’ve watched the film.

One person on X called it an “absolute nothing burger response,” insisting that “the film needs to be much more colourful in part two.” The second film is due out at the same time next year.

Others questioned the need for realism in a film set in a fictional magical realm with a green protagonist. “That’s kind of ridiculous. You can feel for characters and connect with them even in fantastical worlds. That’s the whole point of storytelling,” one person tweeted.

“It’s a musical-fantasy, it’s not supposed to feel real,” another argued.

“My backyard is more vibrant than this version of Oz. We just want our eyes to be dazzled, mate,” read another complaint.

Despite these criticisms, Wicked is already a confirmed box office smash, raking in more than $10.3 million here in Australia during its first five days in cinemas.

Originally published as Wicked director Jon M. Chu hits back at one major criticism about the film