THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN

His movie adaptation of Wicked earned a gazillion dollars at the box office last year. With a much-hyped sequel set to hit theaters this fall, director Jon M. Chu may be the busiest—and boldest—man in Hollywood.

-  By Brady Langmann

Jacket ($8,300), shirt ($710), and tie ($260) by Dior Men; sunglasses ($850) by Jacques Marie Mage.

JUST BEFORE THE DIRECTOR JON M. CHU PREMIERED WICKED IN theaters last fall, he had a surprise encounter while walking on the Universal Studios lot in Hollywood. Even on an average day at Universal, you're likely to pass by the Bates Motel, the stand-in for a certain time-traveling DeLorean, and a tram overflowing with tourists. It's a semi-surreal environment where one learns to expect the unexpected. But Chu was nevertheless stunned when he ran into Steven Spielberg—and the fabled director said he wanted to screen Wicked with him.

Coat, shirt ($825), trousers ($1,795), and belt ($945) by Emporio Armani; Hex Stack ring ($9,500) by David Yurman.

"I want you to be sitting right next to me and I want to see it in Dolby Atmos," Chu remembers him saying. The man who directed Jaws and Jurassic Park isn't exactly someone you say no to. So Chu dutifully arranged to show his movie adaptation of the acclaimed Broadway musical to his childhood idol. They ended up talking for nearly an hour afterward, with Spielberg asking endless questions about how Chu had pulled off certain shots and effects. The idea that a maestro like Spielberg could be interested in how he made a movie remains hard for Chu to grasp. "There's no way he cared," Chu says, laughing and poking fun at himself. "But he believed that he cared and was listening and engaged."

Jacket ($8,300), shirt ($995), tie ($240). trousers ($1,450), and sunglasses ($790) by Louis Vuitton Men's.