Fellow Ozians, let us rejoice! Wicked, the musical reimagining of The Wizard of Oz from the perspective of the Wicked Witch of the West (Cynthia Erivo), is defying audience expectations and the box office. It currently sits as the fourth highest grossing movie musical of all-time; Disney’s live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast still holds the top spot. The adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical is not done breaking records. Just recently, the film has officially become the third-highest-grossing movie of 2024. Is it too much to say that Wicked is seeing nothing but green?
Thanks to the response and fervor of audiences, the home release of Wicked is going to be available a lot sooner than traveling over the rainbow. Starting December 31, Wicked will be available for rent and purchase digitally. Wicked will debut on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD on February 4, 2025.
Ahead of the home release, Collider was invited to a press event in Napa, California to experience “one short day” celebrating the success of Wicked. During the festivities, Collider was able to speak with the director of the movie musical, Jon M. Chu. The In the Heights director shared his reactions to the four Golden Globe nominations for the film, as well as deleted scenes fans can expect to find in the home release of Wicked. Plus, Chu gave Collider Wicked: Part Two updates, now retitled Wicked: For Good, including the second part’s status in post-production and teases which characters will be highlighted in the sequel.
You can watch the full interview in the video above, or you can read the transcript below.
Jon M. Chu Confirms a Cut Scene Featuring a Shirtless Jonathan Bailey

Image via Universal Pictures

COLLIDER: Jon, it is such a pleasure to meet you. Congratulations on the success of Wicked, and congrats on the Golden Globe nomination. How are you feeling about all of this?
JON M. CHU: It’s very overwhelming. There’s a certain protective shell you put on. You just sort of keep moving, especially having a Part Two I’m working on. But at some point, we started letting it in, and it’s been so nice, especially acknowledgment for the cast and the crew for the hard work they’ve done in it. So, to me, that’s the best. And, of course, scrolling social media and being like, “Wow! People really are responding to all this stuff,” and seeing the details that you never think they’d see.
Speaking of details, with the home release coming up, there are just so many more details to uncover. What are you most excited for fans to discover in the deleted scenes or even the behind-the-scenes stuff?
CHU: The behind-the-scenes stuff is great because I think people want to know how we did things, and that’s always really fun for me as a filmmaker. But the deleted scenes were hard to cut. Every single scene, whether it’s in the forest with Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) or some of the stuff with Boq (Ethan Slater) and Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), which no one’s seen, those things are our babies, too. There are certain moments where you’re like, “Oh, no one’s ever going to see that,” and then when people respond to the movie the way that they all want to see it, then we get to sneak that in. So, I’m excited to show more of what people expect from these characters and what they don’t expect, because I think the work is extraordinary from them.
Be honest, if you could have kept one deleted scene, which one were you advocating to keep in as much as possible?
CHU: Oh, gosh, you’re gonna get me in trouble, you see, because all the actors want all those scenes in. I’m not sure they’ve even seen all those scenes. The fun one I would put in is Bowen [Yang]’s — I think we put that in there — “I’ve… Been Through.” For me, that’s the one people talked about without even having seen it, and I love that. We just needed the movie to go and move. So, I’m pretty excited for people to see that.
Well, Bowen Yang just said in an interview that there is supposedly a cut scene of a shirtless Jonathan Bailey Fiyero.
CHU: Yes, there is. I will confirm. And he looks great, and Boq looks great. It’s really funny and hilarious, but it just didn’t fit the tone of our movie at a certain point. But maybe eventually, someone will see that. Maybe we’ll sneak that into the home video just in time.
You should!
Jon M. Chu Shares Where ‘Wicked: For Good’ Is in Post Production Edits

Image via Universal Pictures

You mentioned Part Two. How would you feel if there was ever a screening of both part one and part two together and having that with a mini intermission?
CHU: I have seen that version of it because I wanted to cut both to understand the intention of every scene for these movies. And it’s pretty special. So, I can’t wait for people to experience that one day. One step at a time. But I would love for people to go through that experience.
Personally, I was ready to do that opening night for Wicked. You mentioned you’re working on Wicked Part Two. Where are you at in the editing process?
CHU: We are refining things right now. I cut it about a year ago just to know the lay of the land, but I put it to the side because I really needed to focus on Movie One and really refine that. I just opened it up again, and so we’re getting in there again. Effects are not done, things are not done. I gotta get in there, but it’s very special. It’s very special.
There’s so much that happens in Part Two, and it matters just as much as Part One.
CHU: If you know, you know.
Which I’m so excited for everyone to know. For you right now, with the editing process, do you foresee part two being a similar length to Part One, or is it going to be roughly in that two-hour range? Because Act Two is considerably shorter.
CHU: There are certain things that are needed in Act Two for me that I feel like in a movie you need to have because those changes go quickly. So, I think there’ll be things that, when they see the movie, we’ll take care of them. I’ll put it that way.
Jon M. Chu Teases More Nessarose and Boq in ‘Wicked: For Good’

Image via Universal Pictures

For Part Two, which character are you hoping fans walk away from Part One getting even more love for in Part Two?
CHU: I’m not supposed to be talking about part two! [Laughs] But for Collider, I will say, if you know, you know that with the Nessa[rose] (Melissa Bode) and Boq story, they get to finally sort of blossom in those characters, and what they’re able to do with that is just mind-blowing, heartbreaking. Of course, what happens with Fiyero… All the things. And those girls [Elphaba and Glinda (Ariana Grande)], that relationship, now that I know that the audience is invested in that as much as I have always been with them, it’s going to crush.
Wicked is available to purchase and rent on digital on December 31 and on 4K UHD on February 4, 2025.

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The story of how a green-skinned woman framed by the Wizard of Oz becomes the Wicked Witch of the West. The first of a two-part feature film adaptation of the Broadway musical.

Release Date

November 22, 2024

Cast

Cynthia Erivo
, Ariana Grande
, Michelle Yeoh
, Jeff Goldblum
, Jonathan Bailey
, Ethan Slater
, Marissa Bode
, Bowen Yang
, Bronwyn James
, Keala Settle
, Peter Dinklage
, Aaron Teoh
, Grecia De la Paz
, Colin Michael Carmichael
, Adam James
, Andy Nyman
, Courtney Mae-Briggs
, Sharon D. Clarke
, Jenna Boyd

Runtime

160 Minutes

Character(s)

Elphaba Thropp
, Glinda Upland
, Madame Morrible
, The Wizard
, Fiyero Tigelaar
, Boq
, Nessarose Thropp
, Pfannee
, ShenShen
, Miss Coddle
, Doctor Dillamond (voice)
, Avaric Tenmeadows
, Gilligan
, Professor Nikidik
, Glinda’s Father
, Governor Frexspar Thropp
, Melena Thropp
, The Midwife

Writers

Gregory Maguire
, Winnie Holzman
, Dana Fox
, L. Frank Baum

Studio

Studio(s)

Marc Platt Productions

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Stream on Prime Video