Jon M. Chu on ‘In the Heights,’ the ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Sequel, and the Status of the ‘Wicked’ Movie

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