Jonathan Murray Chu (born November 2, 1979) is an American film and television director, producer and screenwriter.
Filmography:
- Silent Beats (short film; 2001) — Director, producer, writer, sound and production designer
- When The Kids Are Away (short film; 2002) — Director, producer, and writer
- Gwai Lo: The Little Foreigner (short film; 2002) — Director, producer, and writer
- The Secret of the Magic Gourd (2007) — Producer
- Step Up franchise (2008–2019)
- Step Up 2: The Streets (2008) — Director (directorial debut)
- Step Up 3D (2010) — Director
- Step Up Revolution (2012) — Executive producer
- Step Up: All In (2014) — Executive producer
- Step Up: Year of the Dance (2019) — Producer
- The Legion Of Extraordinary Dancers (The LXD) web series (2010–2011) — Director, executive producer, writer, editor, and creator
- Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (2011) — Director
- G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013) — Director
- Dear Mr Watterson (2013) — Associate producer
- Justin Bieber's Believe (2013) — Director
- Jem and the Holograms (2015) (2015) — Director and producer
- Now You See Me 2 (2016) — Director
- Crazy Rich Asians (2018) — Director
- Good Trouble (2019) — Director and executive producer (one episode, "DTLA")
- Ken Jeong: You Complete Me, Ho (2019) — Director and producer
- In the Heights (2021) — Director
- Wicked (2024-2025) — Director
- Wicked: Part One (2024)
Tropes applying to this director
- Creator's Oddball: Chu was primarily known for the Step Up franchise, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, Justin Bieber's Believe (2013), Jem and the Holograms (2015), In the Heights and the upcoming Wicked, all of which were musical films or some slight variation. So imagine one's surprise when he was hired to direct:
- G.I. Joe: Retaliation, an action film based on a popular toyline;
- Now You See Me 2, a sequel to a film about various Stage Magicians pulling off various Heists in the vein of Ocean's Eleven;
- and Crazy Rich Asians, a Romantic Comedy film adaptation of a book of the same name with
a primarily all-Asian cast. However, the third time appears to be the charm, as it was a unexpected critical and commercial success that prompted two sequels, China Rich Girlfriend and Rich People Problems.
- What Could Have Been:
- He was set to showrun the Willow series at Disney+ but COVID-19 delayed the production to summer 2021 and his wife was pregnant at the time. They did not want to move a baby or their two other very young children to halfway around the world to London during the pandemic to film.
- In November 2020, it was reported that he was in talks with Disney to direct a live-action/CGI remake of Lilo & Stitch, but it was later reported in May 2021 that he bowed out of the production due to his obligations with Wicked and China Rich Girlfriend. This was fully confirmed in July 2022 when Dean Fleischer Camp (Marcel the Shell with Shoes On) was announced to be that film's director.
