Jon M. Chu frames Wicked: For Good as a timely fable, early Broadway screening draws warm reaction

After two years of filming and five years of development, Jon M. Chu is beginning to share Wicked: For Good with audiences, and he is positioning the sequel as a story for the current moment. The director has screened the film repeatedly in recent weeks to review different formats. On 27 October he watched it with an audience for the first time at a special showing for the Broadway and touring casts of Wicked, with Ariana Grande in attendance. Reactions in the room were enthusiastic, with performers keenly tracking what the film preserves and reshapes from the stage musical.

Chu says the second film stays close to the Broadway plot while pushing further into its themes. The creative aim is to speak to the present in the United States, with a focus on truth, power, difficult choices and their consequences. He describes the sequel as a story about identity and moral complexity, with an emphasis on how people respond when familiar narratives fall away.

The director reflected on the pressure of launching the first film in November 2024. In his view, the sequel could only succeed if the initial chapter stood alone as a complete movie. With that hurdle cleared, he now expresses confidence in the follow up and relief at finally sharing it ahead of the 17 November premiere and the coming round of reviews.

Following the screening, Gold House and OpenTable hosted a private dinner at Win Son in Brooklyn. Guests included Darren Criss, Stephanie Hsu, Ronny Chieng, Conrad Ricamora, musician Laufey and her sister Junia Lin Jonsdottir, and chef Melissa King. Chu’s parents, who run the Silicon Valley restaurant Chef Chu’s, were on hand as well. The director, a longtime supporter of Gold House and a past honoree, made the rounds with attendees and traded filmmaking tips with food creators as the evening closed.