Changed for Good

Blending architectural styles, the new movie Wicked ventures off the beaten yellow-brick path

- SAM COCHRAN

It's one thing to defy gravity. It's quite another to defy expectations. Such was the challenge for director Jon M. Chu when adapting the hit musical Wicked into a live-action movie, arriving in theaters on November 22. "My goal was to go beyond the matte paintings, beyond a digital world, and really let the audience step into Oz," he notes.

"The emotions in Wicked are so deep and true. I didn't just want a fantasy world beyond our reach. I wanted an immersive space where our characters could come to life." Conceived by production designer Nathan Crowley, the sets nimbly subvert the familiar with the fantastical-layering architectural homages, narrative touchstones, and cinematic razzle-dazzle into an expansive magical realm.

"The pitfalls of the history of Oz are immense," Crowley reflects, referring to past representations of the fictional land onstage, in film, and in literature. On one hand, he notes, "we had to nod our caps to the source material." On the other, "we needed new excitement, color whimey".

At Sky Studios Elstree, on the outskirts of London, the team mapped out the film scene-by-scene, using models, illustrations, and visual references to crystallize each environment. "You have to dive in and start somewhere," Crowley explains of the concept-driven approach.