With In the Heights now playing in theaters and streaming on HBO Max, I recently landed an interview with director Jon M. Chu to talk about his fantastic adaption of Lin-Manuel Miranda 2008 Tony-winning Broadway musical. Set in New York’s Dominican neighborhood of Washington Heights, it follows the life of Usnavi de la Vega (Anthony Ramos), who spends his days dreaming about a better life while he takes care of his small bodega and saves every penny for a brighter future. In the Heights also stars Corey Hawkins, Melissa Barrera, Leslie Grace, Olga Merediz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Gregory Diaz IV, Stephanie Beatriz, Dascha Polanco and Jimmy Smits. The film is produced by Miranda, Quiara Alegría Hudes, Scott Sanders, Anthony Bregman and Mara Jacobs, with screenplay by Hudes.
During the wide-ranging and fun conversation, Chu talked about how making the Step Up films prepared him for In the Heights, how they got to film on location and the challenges once they got there, what it was like editing the movie with Myron Kerstein and who he trusted for honest feedback, when he felt like he made it as a director and would continue to book projects, why the Now You See Me sequel wasn’t called Now You Don’t, and more.
In addition, for fans of Crazy Rich Asians wondering about the sequels, Chu told me:
“We’re working on it. It needs to be great for us to drag everybody back. There is no way I’m coming back unless it’s great. It’s getting there.”
I followed up asking about the scripts and if they’re done, to which Chu responded, “We have scripts that we are working on. In progress.”
Finally, with Chu currently working on the big-screen Wicked adaptation, I asked him how the development is going and what he learned making In the Heights that he will take with him to Wicked. He told me:
"We're in the beginning stages of Wicked. However, I think the philosophy of what musicals mean to me personally now that I have actually made a movie musical... you know, there's theory about what movie musicals mean to me as being a watcher of movie musicals. Now that I've gone through it, what really has hit me is the power of music and why musicals exist in the first place when words aren't sufficient. Nowadays, words really aren't sufficient for what we're going through. So for me, it's finding the truth of each song and working our way inside out of why that exists."
He went on to say that while the spectacle is easy, it’s really about the relationship between the green-skinned Elphaba (played by Idina Menzel in the original Broadway production) and Galinda, who later changes her name to Glinda the Good Witch (Kristin Chenoweth).
"Yes, of course, we're going to have Oz, and you're going to be in this crazy world, and you're going to revisit this innocent place and you're going to see that it's not as innocent as it had been in the past. But you're also going to see that the relationship between these two women [Elphaba and Glinda] is more real than ever, that we're going to be that close to them. We're going to root for them to try to get into that school or when one crosses the other. You're going to hate the other one at some point. You're going to want them to make up at another point, and you're going to feel when they separate. That's the most important thing. The spectacle? That's the easy part, we can hire a lot of people to do that. It's those little moments... that's what's going to make that."
Check out the full interview in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about.
And while you can watch In the Heights for free on HBO Max, if you’ve been vaccinated and feel safe going back to a movie theater, I strongly recommend seeing this movie on the biggest screen in your area. In the Heights is one of my favorite films of 2021 and a perfect movie to see in a movie theater.
Jon M. Chu:
- What TV series would he like to guest direct?
- What is his favorite dish at his father’s San Francisco restaurant?
- When did he feel like he made it as a director and would continue to book projects?
- Did they try and call the Now You See Me sequel Now You Don’t and why it didn’t happen.
- What’s the status of the Crazy Rich Asians sequels?
- How did working on the Step Up films prepare him for In the Heights?
- Getting to film on location and how it happened.
- What was it like editing the movie with Myron Kerstein and who did he trust for honest feedback?
- How did his experience on In the Heights help him prepare for Wicked?