Jon M. Chu for Wicked Stars Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, two-part film

Less than 24 hours after the exclusive reveal evil In Las Vegas, director Jon M. Chu found his way into the spotlight at another CinemaCon stage inside Caesars Palace, this time for a special luncheon in his honor at which he revealed secrets about the filming of the epic two-part musical.

“Last night was so magical,” Cho said. “Hollywood Reporter”s Co-editor-in-chief Nikisa Mumbi Modi, who had a friendly chat with the director after he was presented with an award for cultural impact in filmmaking (by his team) In the highlands Star Ariana Greenblatt). Cho has been in the newsroom while managing a full family of four young children, so being in Las Vegas where he can sleep and hang out with others, “I’m like, ‘Let’s go,'” he said.

Cho, who had just exited the Coliseum stage where he appeared during the Universal Pictures presentation, opened the 30-minute presentation evil The clip that lit up the festivities featured Cho, producer Marc Platt and leading ladies Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, along with other members of the star cast including Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey and Jeff Goldblum.

The director choked up during this screening (as did Grande) while talking about casting Erivo as Elphaba and Grande as Glinda, and Moody asked him to identify the source of the emotion of that moment. There is no guarantee they will provide that, Chu said evil If they couldn’t find actors capable of playing the difficult roles. “When you find those two, you know this is destiny,” he said, adding that it was a spiritual connection as well.

“We’ve been on a lot of trips together,” Cho continued, talking about his actors. Both Grande and Erivo have gone through “personal things” in their lives to find the truth in these characters. He also experienced a period of transformation as his family and career expanded. “That’s why it had that effect on me.”

Zhu also tracked the effect evil And in his life. He remembers that when he was a young director in college, his mother called him to tell him she had tickets to an early musical called evil Which was showing at the Curran Theater in San Francisco. His mother was undergoing chemotherapy at the time. “It was one of the best experiences of my life with her,” he said.

Even then, while the show was still in the workshop stage before heading to Broadway, where it became a cultural phenomenon, Cho said he conceived it as a movie. “When they got on that train, I could picture it in my head,” he said. “I saw Elphaba not on a wire but in the sky… I saw her cape flying in the wind like Superman but taller and darker, as if she was very cold.”

Modi then asked Zhou about the decision to separate evil into two parts rather than producing one long film in the four-hour range. “The show has to be in two parts so it’s something the fans know,” he said, referring to how a Broadway show itself is divided into parts with an intermission in between. “These two parts should feel like a movie, you should want more but you can’t be emotionally dissatisfied when you finish the first part.”

He also said: “There’s a five-hour version, do we want that? Maybe in time.” Cho revealed that decisions were made – and are still being made – about which lines and iconic scenes to keep. Because this property is so beloved by so many, the cast and crew were constantly checking in with each other to see what could work. “Ari is an enthusiast evil“So she would often say, ‘This is the Bible, you can’t delete that line,'” he said of his star.

evil It hits theaters in time for Thanksgiving on November 27. Villain part two, is scheduled to be released on November 26, 2025. Chu’s directorial career dates back to the early 2000s. His credits include Step 2: Streets, Step Up 3D, GI Joe: Retaliation, Jem and the Holograms, Now You See Me 2, Crazy Rich Asians And In the highlandsIn addition to a large number of music videos and documentaries, such as the Justin Bieber movie never say never. He has a big year shaping up in 2024 with the offering evilIt has just been announced that on July 23, Cho will release his memoir, Camera Lens: A Memoir of Seeing and SeeingIn partnership with Random House and co-author Jeremy McCarter.

His latest musical works, In the highlands, which hit amid the pandemic and debuted in theaters at the same time as it premiered on HBO Max in a controversial move by former company president Jason Kilar that was dubbed “Project Popcorn.” Time has taught him the importance of theater, Zhou said, to huge applause from the auditorium audience. “It was a difficult time. It was heartbreaking,” Cho explained, adding that it was a difficult time for everyone. “I didn’t In the highlands To (will be released via streaming).”

Moody also asked about another difficult script for Chu with the actors’ strike forcing him evil to stop production just 10 days before shooting. He said they were saving some of the “big, exciting singing stuff” for later in the shoot so that Erivo could have time to practice flying on wires while also singing “Defying Gravity.”

When the hit was called, it took some time to process, and the same goes for Erivo. “I spent many days talking to her almost daily to help let go of character for a moment before returning.”

Living with change, as well as paving some ground along the way, has been a hallmark of Zhou’s career. It is also an essence evilZhou said. “I remember Elphaba’s words,” he said, nodding at how different life would be after the pandemic. “She says, ‘Something has changed inside me. Something is not the same. I thought this was very important. I think everyone feels that. There is something different.’

this way, “evil “It was prophetic, even if it was in a different time.” “I think this movie, at this time, will of course be a lot of fun. It will be the adventure of a lifetime.”