Jon M. Chu is riding high these days. His smash screen adaptation of Wicked already has broken just about every record for a Broadway-to-screen adaptation, and he is about to restart postproduction on Part 2, the now-titled Wicked: For Good, which is scheduled for release next holiday season. He memoir Viewfinder is becoming a popular stocking stuffer, and he just welcomed his fifth child into the world (and on the night of Wicked’s L.A. premiere, no less).
He has directed musicals including In the Heights, Step Up 2: The Streets and Step Up 3D and of course had his huge comedy hit Crazy Rich Asians. He also is looking to the post-Wicked future, with his eye on several projects such as more musical-oriented films like Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, in collaboration with Andrew Lloyd Webber; an inventive screen take on Hasbro’s Play-Doh; his first animated film with Dr. Seuss’ Oh the Places You’ll Go; and a potential biopic on Britney Spears, The Woman in Me; among others including possibly a long-awaited follow-up to Crazy Rich Asians if the stars and script align.
Chu joins me for this week’s edition of my Deadline video series Behind the Lens to talk about all of the above and so much more including the big hip-hop musical remake of Bye Bye Birdie he almost got to do at Sony when he was just 22. It’s the one that got away, and he tells the story in detail. We also dive into exactly what the second part of Wicked will look like and why he hadn’t even looked at the rough assemblage again until just last week.
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To watch our conversation and go “behind the lens” with Jon M. Chu, watch the video above.
Join me every Monday during Oscar season for a new episode of Behind the Lens.
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