You don’t have to be a fan of musicals to know about the Wicked film franchise—it’s been everywhere since the first film launched last year, and that’s exactly how director Jon. M Chu wanted it.
At WIRED’s Big Interview event last week, senior culture editor Manisha Krishnan sat down with Chu to discuss what it takes to make a blockbuster during a moment of deep changes in the film industry. In today’s episode, we are taking a break from the week’s headlines and bringing you their conversation.
Articles mentioned in this episode:
You can follow Zoë Schiffer on Bluesky at @zoeschiffer and Manisha Krishnan on Bluesky at @manishakrishnan. Write to us at [email protected].
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Transcript
Note: This is an automated transcript, which may contain errors.
Zoë Schiffer: Welcome to WIRED's Uncanny Valley. I'm Zoë Schiffer, WIRED's director of business and industry. Today on the show, we want to share with you one of the best conversations that happened during our Big Interview event in San Francisco last week. Our senior culture editor Manisha Krishnan sat down with Jon Chu, the director of Wicked, to discuss what made the film franchise such a success. Even if you're not a fan of musicals, it's a fascinating conversation about the power of viral marketing and how forward-looking filmmakers like Chu are trying to navigate the AI era without compromising their creative vision and their execution. Here's that conversation.
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