Cynthia Erivo Gets Real About Wicked 2: Why Musicals Are So Hard To Pull Off

Cynthia Erivo is not pretending movie musicals are easy. In a new chat, she talks about how hard the genre is to get right, why the transitions into song are the real magic trick, and why she thinks the reason Wicked 2 works comes down to one person: director Jon M. Chu.

The conversation: Erivo and Jackman compare musical battle scars

Erivo sat down with Hugh Jackman for a Variety conversation about the grind of doing musicals on camera. Both of them have done this dance before, and both basically said: this is the toughest gig in filmmaking.

"It's the Mount Everest of movie-making, musicals. I really think it's the hardest thing to pull off."

That was Jackman. Erivo agreed and took it a step further, pointing out where musicals live or die: the jump from dialogue to song. If that shift doesn’t feel honest and earned, the whole thing falls apart.

Why Erivo says Wicked 2 clicks: Jon M. Chu

Erivo credits Chu as the throughline behind the sequel connecting with audiences. Her point was simple: he kept finding a clean, almost invisible way to bridge the talking and the singing, so when characters break into song, it feels like the only move that makes sense. She also called out the quiet moment right before the singing starts — the breath, the pause — as the hardest part to land. Chu, she says, kept guiding those moments so they feel natural, not forced.

And yes, the movie is actually delivering

All this comes as Wicked: Part Two — also known as Wicked: For Good — is doing real business. The sequel premiered on November 21, 2025, and in its first two weeks it pulled in about $401 million worldwide, making it one of the year’s strongest performers. Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey star alongside Erivo, with Chu back in the director’s chair.