Jon M. Chu’s reasoning behind “grey, de-saturated” color-grading for ‘Wicked’: “It’s not Plastic”

When the trailers dropped for “The Wizard of Oz” prequel “Wicked”, fans immediately noticed a glaring disappointment. The lack of “technicolor” look from the original movie.

And this rage was not out of nowhere. Fans have been getting let down from the looks of big movie productions in recent times and they’re finally calling out filmmakers for it. They all suffer the same problem that’s been plaguing most of the new movies: A lot less color, more grounded and dark look to make the film look “more real”.

So when the Wicked trailer dropped, fans quickly vented about their frustrations about the look of the musical. And in a recent interview with Canadian outlet The Globe And Mail, The “Crazy Rich Asians” director was asked about his approach to the pink-and-green tinged movie, which the interviewer deemed “a little desaturated”. Chu replied;

“I mean, there’s color all over it. I think what we wanted to do was immerse people into Oz, to make it a real place,” Chu said of the decision. “Because if it was a fake place, if it was a dream in someone’s mind, then the relationships and the stakes that these two girls are going through wouldn’t feel real.”

The filmmaker continued, “it’s also [presented in] a way we have not experienced Oz before. It’s been a matte painting. It’s been a video game digital world But for us, I want to feel the dirt. I want to feel the wear and tear of it. And that means It’s not plastic.”

Someone please tell Chu, that it is a children’s book filled with vivid and magical imaginations. And, on top of that, you’re adapting a Broadway musical, the last thing that should go through your head is “how to make this film grounded and real?”

Debate around the film’s look has stretched on since the beginning of September, lasting up and through the film’s theatrical release on Nov. 22. SOme users on X have expressed distaste for the “backlighting” and “drab” coloring of the movie. Als0 notable is that the process of technicolor has largely been discontinued and deemed impossible to replicate, given it’s cost and the tech required has gone out of service.

Part 1 of “Wicked” grossed a whopping $164 million at the global box office in it’s opening weekend, making it the #1 movie at the box-office.