“I’m gonna win that Oscar!,” Jon M. Chu quipped whereas accepting Greatest Director for “Depraved” on the 2025 Critics Alternative Awards. “I’m not nominated, I’m not nominated,” he mentioned, waving away a laughing crowd.
The director remains to be headed to the Academy Awards in March, the place his high-grossing Broadway musical adaptation is nominated for Greatest Image and 9 extra classes. However Chu’s obvious snub for Greatest Director made his win at Critics Alternative — usually, a landmark alongside the Yellow Brick Highway to the Oscars — the large shock of the evening. Stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo cheered for Chu from their desk, and backstage, he emphasised the eagerness he feels for the universe created by their total inventive workforce.
“You don’t get a number of instances to rejoice whenever you’re making a film. Ninety-five p.c of the time, you’re torturing your self and you’ve got your forged and your crew each day type of pulling you ahead and constructing one other bridge to recover from the subsequent factor,” Chu mentioned. “So when a film comes out and also you see the world embrace it, that’s all the pieces to us as storytellers.”
He continued, “It means the world to me personally and, for this film, I feel it deserves to be seen. I feel it deserves to be beloved and praised in all of the methods — as a result of it’s the work of 1000’s of individuals, of human palms constructing each set piece, and all of the work of the ladies. It’s been the journey of my life to witness that personally.”
Persevering with his post-acceptance Q&A, Chu described the advantages and challenges of modifying the forthcoming “Depraved” sequel (anticipated in November of this 12 months) whereas campaigning for awards with the primary movie. He mentioned, “I’m residing two timelines proper now as a result of I’ve been within the edit all week. So this morning I’m actually screening the film for our inside crew to only get a way of the way it performs after which I’m leaping over to right here to rejoice a film that’s already made with all the identical actors and a number of the identical issues and also you’re similar to — it’s a mind-boggling factor to undergo that.”
Nonetheless, Chu mentioned the parallel experiences have been largely useful for “Depraved: For Good.” The director defined that partaking together with his viewers from final 12 months’s movie within the lead-up to the Oscars has impacted his choices for the subsequent installment. Realizing what “Depraved” viewers are taking note of has allowed Chu to be extra refined with some narrative parts whereas increasing and emphasizing others, he mentioned.
“It completely impacts all the pieces that we’re doing,” he mentioned. “I didn’t assume it could, however truly moving into the lower, I really feel like I’m extra within the head house of the place the followers are — whereas earlier than we needed to cowl our bases somewhat bit extra for everyone.”
The director went on to emphasise the significance of “Depraved” to its followers, who’ve strongly related with its emotional arc in a turbulent time. Chu teased an much more compelling and intense encore from Grande and Erivo within the second half, earlier than advocating for the facility of the musical.
“It’s the quintessential American style of films that has lasted forever and continues to — and I feel that whenever you solely have restricted quantity of musicals being made, you don’t get the complete swath of all the pieces you are able to do with music,” Chu mentioned, including he hopes “Depraved” encourages extra filmmakers to naje their mark on the style.
He continued, “It’s the finest sort of film to make. It’s so enjoyable and it’s as enjoyable because it appears, and but is as sophisticated because it appears too. We make it look straightforward.”