The director of a star-studded movie adaptation of Wicked said it was important to him not to rely on CGI for the film's yellow brick road, which was constructed in the Buckinghamshire countryside last year.
The highly-anticipated big-screen adaptation of Wicked, based on the stage show prequel to The Wizard of Oz, will be released in cinemas this November.
The film's cast and crew are already hot on the interview circuit, however, and director Jon M. Chu alluded to the big-budget production's temporary set in the village of Ivinghoe, Bucks, during a sit-down with Vanity Fair this week.
Chu told the magazine that it had been important for him to recreate the famous yellow brick road in its entirety - shown in drone shots that captured the impressive expanse of yellow winding across a field in Leighton Buzzard last spring.
He said: "I wanted to do it the way I dreamed about it as a kid, (like in) Steven Spielberg's Hook, (where he was) on a dock with a giant pirate ship.
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"Wicked's yellow brick road came complete with mud, and an actual train transports the witches to the Emerald City."
Chu also told Vanity Fair that lead actresses Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo sang live on the film set in Ivinghoe – with Erivo “sailing through the sky” on a harness during a real-time rendition of belter showtune Defying Gravity.
The film, which stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo alongside Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey and Michelle Yeoh was shot in Ivinghoe on location for Sky Studios, which is based in Elstree, Hertfordshire.
Drone shots captured the temporarily constructed yellow brick road and munchkin village last April before production on the film was halted due to the Hollywood actor strikes.
Part one of Wicked will be released on November 27, 2024, with the second instalment slated for November 2025.
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