This summer’s surprise blockbuster hit Crazy Rich Asians has been greenlit for two sequels, which will be filming back-to-back in 2020. Deadline first reported the news based on an interview with producer Nina Jacobson. The feature film was the first by a major Hollywood studio to feature a majority Asian-American cast in a modern setting since 1993’s The Joy Luck Club. The romantic comedy has brought in over $237 million worldwide so far this year, breaking records in gross receipts for the genre. Crazy Rich Asians has been nominated for two Golden Globes: Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for Constance Wu.
Crazy Rich Asians is based on a series of three novels by Kevin Kwan. In the first film, an American college professor named Rachel (Wu) travels to Singapore to meet her boyfriend Nick’s (Henry Golding) family, only to learn for the first time that he is one of the uber-rich elite of Singapore. Kwan’s second novel is entitled China Rich Girlfriend, and his third Rich People Problems. The two sequels will likely focus on Gemma Chan’s character Astrid, whose (spoiler alert) marriage fell apart in the first film, and Nick and Rachel as they travel to mainland China to learn the truth about Rachel’s father.
Screenwriters Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim will return to write the new scripts, and director Jon M. Chu will again direct. The delay of the sequel filming schedule is necessary due to other commitments key talent has made. Jon M. Chu is currently planning a film adaption of the Tony-winning musical In the Heights. Golding has signed on for another romantic comedy, Last Christmas, co-starring Emilia Clarke as well as another Crazy Rich Asians cast member, Michelle Yeoh. Awkwafina, who played Wu’s comedic best friend in the first film, has an upcoming Comedy Central TV series.
The Crazy Rich Asian sequels will likely not hit theaters until 2021. Jacobson told Deadline, by having fans wait a while upfront, “we’ll make it up to them on the back end by shooting two films together.”
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