Wicked director hits back at claims the film looks 'washed out' in cinemas

Wicked may have defied box office records raking in millions of dollars since its release earlier this week.

Fans and critics have called the film "magical" and have urged people to go and watch the "bewitching musical experience" featuring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.

Despite rave reviews, there was one aspect of the film which left some people slightly "uncomfortable" - the colour grading.

Over on X/Twitter, viewers expressed their frustrations with the "washed-out" saturation, with one suggesting that turning up the vibrancy would have made the viewing more pleasurable.

However, Wicked director Jon M Chu has since hit back at criticism, saying the colour grading was intentional.

"I mean, there’s colour all over it," he told The Globe and Mail. "I think what we wanted to do was immerse people into Oz, to make it a real place. Because if it was a fake place, if it was a dream in someone’s mind, then the real relationships and the stakes that these two girls are going through wouldn’t feel real."

He added that he wanted to move away from a virtual reality model, and instead aimed to make it feel more real and dreamlike.

“It’s also [presented in] a way we have not experienced Oz before," he added. "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."

"We have the environment. The sun is the main source of light. You see the vast landscapes. You see the air. You see creatures exist here."

Chu also emphasised that the colours change throughout the film to represent the journeys of the characters.

"These two characters that will go through two movies, their relationship with the land is important; their relationship with the nature of this land that the wizard imposed himself," he told the outlet.

"The [colour] contrast goes up over time because that is what Elphaba brings to this world."

Wicked is in cinemas now.

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