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Jon M. Chu Hid ‘Wicked: For Good’ Final Shot From Universal to Protect a Surprise

He says he kept the moment off-limits to stop it from being used in ads following controversy over earlier poster imagery.

Overview

  • Chu told Business Insider that studio executives were never shown the movie’s closing image because he feared it would be folded into marketing.
  • The director said he issued a strict directive — “Do not show this shot” — to preserve the intended reveal.
  • Universal previously leaned on a recreation of the stage show’s iconic art for the first film’s campaign, which drew online pushback and fan edits.
  • Cynthia Erivo publicly condemned those fan alterations as degrading, saying the film poster was an homage and not an imitation.
  • Wicked: For Good opened this past weekend with about $226 million worldwide, which TheWrap reports is a record for Broadway adaptations.