Jon M. Chu | |
---|---|
Born | Jonathan Murray Chu November 2, 1979 Palo Alto, California, U.S. |
Alma mater | University of Southern California (BFA) |
Occupations |
|
Years active | 2001–present |
Spouse | Kristin Hodge (m. 2018) |
Children | 2 |
Jonathan Murray Chu (born November 2, 1979) [1] is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known as the director of 2018's Crazy Rich Asians , the first film by a major Hollywood studio to feature a majority cast of Asian descent in a modern setting since The Joy Luck Club in 1993. [2]
The films that he has directed often include musical elements, including the dance films Step Up 2: The Streets (2008) and Step Up 3D (2010), musicals Jem and the Holograms (2015) and In the Heights (2021), and the live concert films Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (2011) and Justin Bieber's Believe (2013). Chu is an alumnus of the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
Chu was born in Palo Alto, California and grew up in nearby Los Altos. He attended Pinewood School from kindergarten through 12th grade. [3] Chu is the youngest of five children. [4] He began making movies in fifth grade, when his mother gifted him a video camera to document their family vacations. Chu instead began making home movies starring his siblings. [5]
His mother, Ruth Chu, was born in Taiwan; his father, Lawrence Chu, was born in Sichuan. [6] [7] [8] His family owns the restaurant Chef Chu's. [9]
Chu obtained a BFA in Film & Television Production from University of Southern California in 2003, [4] where he was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. He won the Princess Grace Award, the Kodak Student Filmmaker Award, [10] the Dore Schary Award presented by the Anti-Defamation League, the Jack Nicholson directing award, and was recognized as an honoree for the IFP/West program Project: Involve.[ citation needed ]
After making his student short, When the Kids Are Away, Chu was signed to William Morris Agency and attached to several high-profile projects. Chu was hired by Sony Pictures to direct their feature Bye Bye Birdie, but Sony never green lit the film due to budget concerns. Sony re-hired Chu to direct their updated version of The Great Gatsby , [11] which did not pan out as the project was purchased by Warner Bros. Pictures for their 2013 film.
He is in a dance crew called AC/DC or Adam/Chu Dance crew. In an interview, Chu addressed a question he is often asked, "Why do all of your films have dance?" He responded, "I don't know why. It seems so obvious. But there's something about the dancers that motivate me the most. I don't know if it's just dance, but I do think that the dancers are amazing artists, and every time I meet a new dancer, that triggers something in my brain, and I'm more creative than I could ever be. When I feel that creativity burst, I go with it." [12]
In 2013, Chu was awarded the Visionary Award by East West Players (EWP), the longest-running theater of color in the United States, for his contributions to the Asian Pacific American (APA) community. In an online Q&A, Chu revealed that he had attended EWP's productions as a child and was excited "to push boundaries with them in the future." [13]
In 2013, Chu directed a pre-flight safety video for Virgin America. The video was structured like a musical number that incorporated multiple styles and high-energy dance. [14] The video was played before flights through 2018, when Virgin America was folded into Alaska Airlines.
Chu directed Crazy Rich Asians , which was the highest-grossing film over the August 17, 2018 weekend, earned over $35M at the US box office during its first five days, [15] and received a 93% rating from Rotten Tomatoes. Within a week of the film's release, Variety reported that a sequel was already in development by Warner Bros. with Chu scheduled to direct. [16] Director Chu is part of Rachel Chu's family in the book, as a distant cousin. [17]
Chu directed In the Heights , based on the Broadway musical of the same name for Warner Bros. Pictures. It was previously set for a June 26, 2020 release, though it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was released on June 10, 2021. [18] [19] [20] [21]
In October 2020, it was announced that Chu would be directing the pilot for the Disney+ series Willow, based on the film of the same name, with Warwick Davis returning as the title character. [22] [23] The following month, Chu entered talks with Disney to direct a live-action adaptation of Lilo & Stitch, [24] which he ultimately passed on due to other obligations.
In January 2021, Chu left directorial duties on Willow due to production delays and personal reasons with the birth of his next child. [25] The following month, it was announced that Chu would direct the two-part film adaptation of Wicked for Universal Pictures, with both parts set for November 2024 and 2025 releases. [26] [27]
Chu will direct an adaptation of Dr. Seuss's Oh, The Places You'll Go! , produced by the Warner Animation Group alongside Dr. Seuss Enterprises and Bad Robot Productions. [28]
In March 2022, it was announced that Chu would be producing (and possibly directing) an animated film based on the children’s modeling compound Play-Doh. It will be produced by Entertainment One and Hasbro. [29] [30]
In April 2023, it was revealed that Chu will direct and co-produce a feature film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat , a passion project he had been hoping to make for some time, for Amazon MGM Studios and the Really Useful Group. It will be produced by Scott Sanders and Mara Jacobs, reuniting with Chu after working with him on In the Heights. [31]
In August 2024, it was announced that Chu will direct the film adaptation of the Britney Spears biography The Woman in Me for Universal, re-teaming with Wicked producer Marc Platt on the project. [32]
Chu is married to Kristin Hodge. Their daughter, Willow Chu, was born in 2017; she is named after the 1988 fantasy film Willow. [33] Their son, Jonathan Heights Chu, was born in 2019. His middle name comes from the film, In the Heights, which Chu was in the middle of directing at the time. [34]
Short film
Year | Title | Director | Executive Producer | Writer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2001 | Silent Beats | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also sound and production designer |
2002 | When the Kids Are Away | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
Gwai Lo: The Little Foreigner | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
Director
Year | Title | Distribution |
---|---|---|
2008 | Step Up 2: The Streets | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures |
2010 | Step Up 3D | |
2013 | G.I. Joe: Retaliation | Paramount Pictures |
2015 | Jem and the Holograms | Universal Pictures |
2016 | Now You See Me 2 | Lionsgate Films |
2018 | Crazy Rich Asians | Warner Bros. Pictures |
2021 | In the Heights | |
2024 | Wicked | Universal Pictures |
2025 | Wicked Part Two | |
Producer
Executive producer
Year | Title | Director | Executive Producer | Writer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2010–2011 | The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers | Yes | Yes | Yes | Creator; Also editor |
2019 | Ken Jeong: You Complete Me, Ho | Yes | Yes | No | TV special |
2019–present | Good Trouble | Yes | Yes | No | Pilot |
2020–present | Home Before Dark | Yes | Yes | No | |
2022 | Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration | No | Yes | No | TV special |
2023 | The Company You Keep | No | Yes | No |
Oh, the Places You'll Go! is a children's book, written and illustrated by children's author Dr. Seuss. It was first published by Random House on January 22, 1990. It was his last book to be published during his lifetime before his death, on September 24, 1991 at the age of 87. The book concerns the journey of life, its challenges, and joys.
Jill Culton is an American animator, storyboard artist, director, and screenwriter. With her directorial debut on Sony's first animated film, Open Season, she became the first female principal director of a big budget, computer-generated feature.
Lin-Manuel Miranda is an American songwriter, actor, singer, filmmaker, rapper and librettist. He created the Broadway musicals In the Heights (2005) and Hamilton (2015), and the soundtracks for the animated films Moana (2016), Vivo, and Encanto. He has received numerous accolades including a Pulitzer Prize, three Tony Awards, two Laurence Olivier Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and five Grammy Awards, along with nominations for two Academy Awards. He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2018.
Nelson Coates is an American production designer for feature film and television. His motion picture credits include the Lin-Manuel Miranda musical In the Heights, based on the Tony Award-winning Broadway show; Jon M. Chu’s romantic comedy Crazy Rich Asians, the highest-grossing romantic comedy of the last decade; Robert Zemeckis’ dramatic thriller Flight, which critics Roger Ebert and Owen Gleiberman placed on their top-10 lists; and the biographical drama Antwone Fisher, which received a 2002 American Film Institute Award. Coates’ television projects include the mystery drama Home Before Dark and the second and third season of The Morning Show, both for Apple TV+.
Harry Shum Jr. is an American actor and dancer. He is known for his roles as Mike Chang on the Fox television series Glee (2009–2015), Magnus Bane on the Freeform television series Shadowhunters (2016–2019), and Benson Kwan on the ABC television series Grey's Anatomy (2022–present). He was nominated for six Screen Actors Guild Awards for best ensemble performance in Crazy Rich Asians, Glee and Everything Everywhere All at Once, winning for the latter two. Shum won the award for The Male TV Star of 2018 in the E! People's Choice Awards for Shadowhunters.
Sonoya Mizuno is a British actress. She is known for her roles in the Netflix series Maniac (2018), the HBO series House of the Dragon (2022–), the FX miniseries Devs (2020) and the film Crazy Rich Asians (2018).
Warner Bros. Pictures Animation (WBPA), formerly known as Warner Animation Group (WAG), is an American animation studio that serves as the animated feature film label of Warner Bros.' theatrical film production and distribution division, Warner Bros. Pictures. Established on January 7, 2013, by Jeff Robinov, the studio is the successor to the dissolved 2D traditional hand-drawn animation studio Warner Bros. Feature Animation, which shut down in 2004, and is also a sister to the regular Warner Bros. Animation studio.
The Meg is a 2018 science fiction action film directed by Jon Turteltaub from a screenplay by Dean Georgaris, Jon Hoeber, and Erich Hoeber, loosely based on the 1997 novel Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror by Steve Alten. The film stars Jason Statham, Li Bingbing, Rainn Wilson, Ruby Rose, Winston Chao, and Cliff Curtis. In the plot, a group of scientists encounters a 75-foot-long (23 m) megalodon while on a rescue mission on the floor of the Pacific Ocean.
In the Heights is a 2021 American musical drama film directed by Jon M. Chu from a screenplay by Quiara Alegría Hudes based on the stage musical of the same name by Hudes and Lin-Manuel Miranda. The film stars Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Leslie Grace in her film debut, Melissa Barrera, Olga Merediz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Gregory Diaz IV, and Jimmy Smits. The film follows a similar plot to the musical, telling the story of a corner in the predominantly Dominican community of Washington Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City, where every member of the community pursues their sueñitos for a better life.
Crazy Rich Asians is a 2018 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Jon M. Chu, from a screenplay by Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim, based on the 2013 novel of the same title by Kevin Kwan. The film stars Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Gemma Chan, Lisa Lu, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong, and Michelle Yeoh. It follows a Chinese-American professor, Rachel, who travels to Singapore with her boyfriend Nick and is shocked to discover that Nick's family is one of the richest families in Singapore.
Henry Ewan Golding is a British actor and former television presenter. He is known for his film work, starring in the romantic comedies Crazy Rich Asians (2018) and Last Christmas (2019), the thriller A Simple Favor (2018), the action comedy The Gentlemen (2019), as well as playing the title character in the action-adventure Snake Eyes (2021), and appearing in the ensemble cast of The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024). He worked as a presenter on ESPN, the BBC and Discovery Channel Asia before refocusing on acting.
Adele Lim is a Malaysian screenwriter, producer, and director. She is best known for writing Crazy Rich Asians, the first film by a major Hollywood studio to feature a majority cast of Asian descent in a modern setting since The Joy Luck Club in 1993, and Raya and the Last Dragon in 2021, an animated fantasy adventure inspired by Southeast Asian culture. She also directed and produced the 2023 comedy Joy Ride.
Crazy Rich Asians is a 2018 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Jon M. Chu from a screenplay by Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim. The film was accompanied by both a soundtrack album and an original motion picture score album. The film stars Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Gemma Chan, Awkwafina, Nico Santos, Lisa Lu, Ken Jeong, and Michelle Yeoh and follows a young Asian-American woman who travels to meet her boyfriend's family and is surprised when she discovers they are among the richest in Singapore.
Wicked is an upcoming American musical fantasy film directed by Jon M. Chu and written by Winnie Holzman. It is the first of a two-part film adaptation of the stage musical of the same name by Stephen Schwartz and Holzman, which in turn was based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Gregory Maguire and characters from L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The film stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, with Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James, Keala Settle, and Peter Dinklage in supporting roles. Set in the Land of Oz, largely before Dorothy Gale's arrival from Kansas, the plot follows green-skinned Elphaba and her path to ultimately becoming the Wicked Witch of the West, alongside an unlikely friendship and later rivalry with a classmate who later becomes Glinda the Good.
Alice Brooks ASC, is an American director of photography best known for her cinematography work on feature films.
Jared Stern is an American screenwriter, director and producer. He collaborated with John Whittington on The Lego Batman Movie (2017), The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017), and DC League of Super-Pets (2022), the latter of which he also directed.
My mom's from Taiwan. My dad's from mainland China. They came over when they were 19, 20 years old.