Jon M. Chu's ‘In The Heights’: 5 Things To Know About The Movie Musical

After Crazy Rich Asians, Jon Chu returns with In The Heights, the highly-anticipated film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway musical.

Jon M Chu, best known for directing Crazy Rich Asians, Now You See Me 2, and G.I. Joe: Retaliation, will blow our minds and hearts once more with In The Heights, his latest project.

The movie, which is an adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway musical, delves deeper into the lives and culture of the Hispanic community of Manhattan's Washington Heights. The story follows a bodega owner who dreams of leaving New York City and opening a bar in the Dominican Republic, his homeland.

Here are what we know so far this highly anticipated movie.

1. Directing 'Crazy Rich Asians' helped Chu with 'In The Heights'

Jon Chu in the set of Crazy Rich Asians (Photo: Sanja Bucko/Warner Bros)

Above Chu on the set of ‘Crazy Rich Asians' (Photo: Sanja Bucko / Warner Bros)

Chu has taken a few lessons from his Crazy Rich Asians movie and applied it in his new movie. "Making Crazy Rich Asians influenced how I would approach In the Heights. I think I didn't understand the full power of the specificity that I could show in Crazy Rich Asians that would resonate with the audience. I didn't know how important that really was, how sharp that made our knife cut right to your heart. I think, you know, certain choices that we made maybe by mistake, maybe just by instinct," he said.

"Like Crazy Rich Asians made such a huge difference, whether it was how many times do you cut to the food, or the kind of food, or that shot where the friends are just hanging out in the jeep. That's probably some of the most powerful imageries and, for me, it was like, we're just shooting them in the car, but I understand that and I understand what that can give somebody," he added.

2. Warner Bros. released the first eight minutes of the movie

Before its theatrical release in the US, Warner Bros. Pictures released the first eight minutes of In The Heights on June 7. The clip introduced viewers to bodega owner Usnavi de la Vega (portrayed by Anthony Ramos).

The film also stars Corey Hawkins, Leslie Grace, Melissa Barrera, Olga Merediz, Stephanie Beatriz, and Jimmy Smits.

3. ‘In The Heights’ the Broadway Musical won 4 Tony Awards

Above Photo: Dallas Morning News

Lin-Manuel Miranda's In The Heights musical has bagged several major awards. It was nominated for thirteen Tony Awards and won four, including Best Musical.

4. There is a documentary about 'In The Heights'

On May 27, 2009, PBS' Great Performances aired In The Heights: Chasing Broadway Dreams, a documentary that follows the journey of the cast and crew before bringing the show to Broadway. The film was produced by Andrew Fried and directed by Paul Bozymowski.

5. Chu was very specific about the little details

Above Photo: Warner Bros

Chu is not new to making films that represent a specific race and culture; that is why he was very meticulous with the little details in his film adaptation of In The Heights.

"Oh, this pride of your flag. That's why you have the flag on your jersey. Oh, that's why you have the flag in your back pocket, or that you shave it in your head. To me, that was eye-opening. Oh, you're telling your story; you're carrying so much. I knew what it meant to express yourself, but you're also carrying the stories of your past or your family's past. And that really resonated with me," he said in an interview.

"So I'm really proud that we got to cast the way we got to cast.. the people who were of the community, but also from the background people to dancers, and that we gave them the room to do that."

Topics

In The Heights Jon M Chu Musical Movies