Filmmaker Jon M. Chu has been instrumental in bringing not one, but two bundles of joy this month.
The first got here on November ninth, when the Palo Alto-born filmmaker and his wife Kristin Hodge welcomed daughter Stevie Sky to their enchanted kingdom; They now have 4 children.
The completely satisfied event coincided with the glittering Los Angeles premiere of certainly one of the most important movies of 2024, Chu's recent theatrical version of the beloved Broadway maroon “Wicked.”
When asked if welcoming a brand new daughter and directing certainly one of the most important Christmas movies means he's not getting much sleep in the meanwhile, the affable Chu jokes.
“I haven’t slept in about three years,” he said. “My wife is an angel. So life is full now and my heart is full. So they’re just blessings.”
Chu's Part 1 of “Wicked” (Part II is scheduled for release in November 2025) lasts so long as your complete stage production, but doesn't feel prefer it, and includes a diverse forged that features Tony Award winner Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, the Outcasts, The Wicked Witch of the West is within the making, and pop star Ariana Grande is playing good Glinda (or Ga-linda, as she's quick to indicate). The two annoy one another as unlikely roommates at Shiz University's women's college, Cage Hall. The management lies with the headmistress Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh). “Bridgerton” heartthrob Jonathan Bailey also plays the dashing Prince Fiyero Tigelaar, who captivates each of them.
Chu directed the phenomenally successful “Crazy Rich Asians” in 2018 and later the swinging musical “In the Heights.” The latter, which was released in cinemas after the COVID-19 crisis, failed to attain the hoped-for box office success. “Wicked” experienced turbulence by itself flight to the large screen when the writers' strike halted production just before filming of the breathtaking number “Defying Gravity” that closes this film. Erivo sat on that song for six months after which belted it out, Chu said.
Chu all the time loved musicals and fell in love on the 2003 world premiere of “Wicked” on the Curran Theater in San Francisco. The 45-year-old fondly remembers coming to San Francisco together with his family to see ballet, opera and various musical productions. Chu's parents are beloved South Bay icons: Lawrence and Ruth Chu and run the famous Los Altos restaurant Chef Chu's.
Chu was keen about “Wicked” from the beginning.
“I feel very fortunate to have the purest patient-zero experience,” he recalls. “I didn't know what I was going to see, but I still remember being blown away by being mesmerized by the bubble, the little reference to the movie (The Wizard of Oz) really touching me has. ”
That's why it's somewhat mind-boggling for Chu, who also directed two “Step Up” dance movies, “GI Joe: Retaliation,” “Jem and the Holograms” and more, that he's been directing some film versions in 20 years , after seeing the musical with the family.
“It feels like fate,” he says.
His love of musicals was fostered while attending school within the South Bay.
“Our school (Pinewood in Los Altos) was very interested in theater,” he said. “I played Oliver. I was obsessed with The Phantom of the Opera. I had the pop-up book. I had the beach towel. I had the porcelain mask. I loved Joseph and the Fantastic Technicolor Dreamcoat.”
Chu's interest in filmmaking emerged within the mid-to-late Nineties with the appearance of digital video. A 13-14 yr old child found it most difficult to access the equipment.
The generosity of the regulars at his parents' restaurant got here to the rescue.
“People would come into the restaurant and give my dad equipment for me because they knew I was into video,” he remembers. “I was in the right place at the right moment and at the right time in a restaurant that is essentially a house of stories because everyone tells stories at all times.”
Having the camera in your hand proved to be a game-changer.
“I was the youngest of five, people kind of ignore you,” he said. “But with a camera in my hands, everyone was paying attention. They let me sit with them. Or they wanted to see what I was photographing. And looking into that lens was like putting on a mask. And the way they look at you is different. Maybe I've become addicted to it. … It took me a while to understand the power behind it.”
Chu remembers his immigrant parents singing songs from the 1939 original “The Wizard of Oz” in the home. The American dream “was very real in our household,” he said.
But when he left the Bay Area and started college, he found he “awakened to a different reality.” The stage musical “Wicked” brought his feelings to the forefront.
“Suddenly I walk into a store and people treat me differently,” he remembers. “I kind of grappled with the question: Is this how the world is? And this musical turned that idea of the fairy tale on its head and said…in a very serious way, who decided what a villain should look like, who decided what a hero should look like.”
This stayed with him throughout the entire process of making the film. One of the most difficult aspects was casting the two female leads.
Erivo wowed her with her performance even when she walked in wearing jeans for the first time.
However, Chu was reluctant when he heard Grande was interested.
“I was like no way. Ariana Grande can't do that. No way.” But he agreed to see her.
“She comes in and is the most interesting person in the room,” he recalls. But he still wasn't entirely convinced she was right for the role. When he called back, he asked if she could “take off the Ariana Grande stuff.”
“She completely changed and was ready to go there,” he said. After a 3rd audition, she got the role.
“Wicked” Part II will probably be released on November 21, 2025, but Chu isn’t relaxing until then. He is developing a movie version of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and is working on an animated musical by Dr. Seuss' “Oh, the Places You'll Go!” And then there's the musical “Crazy Rich Asians,” a possible sequel in development to this huge box office hit. And, oops, he was also hired to direct Britney Spears' memoir.
It could thoroughly turn into much more entertainment fun, and Chu is happy about it.
“Just no more kids,” he said, laughing.
Originally published:
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