‘Wicked’ director discusses 9 million tulips planted to create the film’s set

Wicked director Jon M. Chu discussed the 9 million tulips planted in making the set for the upcoming film in an interview with Fandango that was published on Wednesday.

“Nine million tulips we planted,” Chu revealed in the interview. He shared that when the studio asked if that many tulips were necessary, “Sorry we already planted them,” was the response.

Chu went into further detail on developing a real-life Emerald City for the film.

“We built the Emerald City,” the director said. “You could walk through the Emerald City, go into the bakery shop and look at what kind of sweets they had. You could go into the salon and sit in a chair.” 

Chu said directing a movie with this level of set design has been a life’s dream.

“This is a spectacle on the grandest scale. I’ve dreamed about making a movie like this since seeing … behind-the-scenes pictures of Cleopatra,” said Chu.

Wicked, hitting theaters on Nov. 22, features a star-studded cast, including Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, with Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum and Peter Dinklage in supporting roles.