Director of the most highly-anticipated film of the year, ‘Wicked’, at least in the giddy circles I frequent, Jon M. Chu brings an epic arsenal of film work to Gregory Maguire’s novel and the musicalized version that’s still packing in audiences on Broadway. To truly capture the wonder of Oz would take a visionary, so I’m confident that it landed in the right lap. Chu has helmed such memorable films as ‘Crazy Rich Asians‘ and ‘In the Heights’, as well as filmed concerts of Justin Bieber and the dance films ‘Step Up 2’ and ‘Step Up 3’. He knows his way around a musical dance number, and is genius at combining swirling camera work with dramatic visuals and compelling music. He earns this Dazzler of the Day for the trailers of ‘Wicked’ alone – and advance buzz is that this first installment absolutely defies gravity.
