(Bloomberg) — Jon Chu’s path to Hollywood eminence began with his biggest failure. “Jem and the Holograms,” a musical that Chu directed, grossed just $2 million in 2015 and posted one of the 10 worst opening weekends in Hollywood history.

“I remember sitting there feeling very empty,” says Chu, 41. “I cleared my slate and started to look for whatever those next projects were going to be. I told my agents and managers, ‘I’m not going to make money for you for the next five years, so buckle up.'”

His time in purgatory didn’t last long. In 2016, Chu agreed to make two movies: “Crazy Rich Asians” and “In the Heights.” “Crazy Rich Asians,” released in 2018, grossed more than $238 million and turned into a global phenomenon. Chu credits the success, in part, to the months of marketing that typically accompany a release in theaters. The many magazine covers, billboards and talk-show appearances helped to turn the cast members into stars.

Chu hoped “In the Heights,” his forthcoming adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s award-winning play, would have a similar impact for its largely Latino cast. Then the pandemic intervened, shuttering theaters and forcing the studio to postpone the movie’s release. While Miranda was eager to get the film out into the world, Chu held firm to his belief that it needed a big rollout. Initially, AT&T Inc.’s Warner Bros. seemed to agree.

But then Warner Bros. announced plans to debut the film and 16 others on HBO Max and theaters at the same time, a move that caught Chu off-guard. He found out just 15 minutes before the press release dropped and was one of several filmmakers peeved by the lack of communication. “I dunno, a little heads up would have been great,” he says. “But, you know, they paid for it in the end.”

As the movie’s release date approaches, Chu is starting to feel optimistic again. “In the Heights” will be one of the few major releases debuting this summer, promising a long run in theaters.

Videochatting from his home in Malibu, California, Chu spoke with Bloomberg News about the making of “In the Heights,” the impact of “Crazy Rich Asians” on Hollywood and his relationship with Steven Spielberg.

Some version of this movie has been in development since 2008. What was your vision for adapting it?

I knew the characters. Even though I’m not from Washington Heights — I grew up in a Chinese restaurant on the other side of the country — I recognized my family in that. I recognized my aunts and my uncles who took care of us growing up. I really related to knowing how big your dreams feel when you are imagining it in your bedroom, or in the kitchen of the restaurant.

You shot the whole movie in Washington Heights. How did the neighbors feel about that?

These are Lin’s neighbors. We all did a lot of pre-work meeting with the neighborhood and getting them to know us a bit before we came in.