With Depraved, director Jon M. Chu needed to make a two-decade-old stage musical based mostly on a novel from 30 years in the past impressed by a film virtually 90 years outdated that tailored a e-book from 1900 really feel contemporary. He did that, partly, by casting a pop star as one of many leads, placing Ariana Grande as Glinda alongside Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba. The technique labored, as Depraved grew to become a display screen sensation, the fifth highest grossing film of the 12 months. And if the sequel Depraved: For Good matches that quantity, Chu hopes he’ll have sufficient pull to work with one other pop star: Britney Spears.
In an interview with Esquire, Chu enthused concerning the depths he discovered within the singer’s 2023 memoir The Girl in Me. “She did what she needed to do to outlive. She deserves a narrative that honors that,” Chu declared. “Now that she has her freedom, what does freedom truly price? And what does that appear to be? What can we do most to encourage her to be free and never attempt to flip her into no matter we wish her to be.”
Shifting from wizards in Oz to ’90s teen idols would possibly look like an odd change, however Chu’s profession has been filled with surprising turns. Chu made his characteristic directoral debut with 2008’s Step Up 2: The Streets, a sequel to the Channing Tatum-led dance film two years earlier. After directing the third entry within the franchise, Chu made two Justin Bieber live performance movies and, in between, helmed the sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation, earlier than mixing ’80s toy franchises with pop music for 2015’s Jem and the Holograms. Already, his post-Depraved schedule features a movie model of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Joseph and the Superb Technicolor Dreamcoat and an adaptation of the Dr. Seuss e-book Oh the Locations You’ll Go!.
Disparate as these titles could seem, Chu sees one ingredient binding them collectively. “I’m actually able that I can get issues made, and so I ought to get as many issues made as doable that observe my perception system,” he mused. And which means making joyful films, it doesn’t matter what individuals would possibly say. “Pleasure will be lovely,” Chu insisted, considerably defensively. “It may be controversial. It takes simply as a lot braveness to try this. And I’m going to point out that it may be simply as entertaining.”
