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Crazy Rich Asians Sequel Moving Forward; Director & Writers To Return
Warner Bros. is moving forward with a sequel to Crazy Rich Asians, with director Jon M. Chu returning to adapt Kevin Kwan's novel China Rich Girlfriend. The first movie hit theaters only a week ago, but reviews for Crazy Rich Asians have been incredibly positive. Plus, the movie earned $35.5 million in its five-day opening weekend, securing Crazy Rich Asians the best opening for a romantic comedy since Trainwreck in 2015. Considering Crazy Rich Asians is the adaptation of Kwan's novel of the same name, and the book has two sequels, there was always the possibility that the studio could move ahead with a sequel.
Crazy Rich Asians follows the love story of NYU economics professor Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) and her boyfriend Nick Young (Henry Golding). However, their relationship hits some snags when Rachel visits Singapore with Nick, meets his family and sees the world in which he grew up - that is, the world of "crazy rich" Asians. To make matters complicated, Nick's mother Eleanor (Michelle Yeoh) doesn't approve of Rachel, and actively works against their still-young romantic relationship. Although the Crazy Rich Asians movie makes some changes to the book, it ultimately ends with Nick and Rachel happily engaged. Now it seems their story will continue in a sequel.
THR reports that Warner Bros. is moving forward in developing a sequel to Crazy Rich Asians, which would adapt Kwan's second novel, China Rich Girlfriend. For the sequel, the studio is reuniting the entire creative team including director Jon M. Chu, writers Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim as well as producers Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson and John Penotti. According to THR, the sequel hasn't officially been given the green light just yet, but the studio does have the rights to adapt all three of Kwan's novels.
In terms of story, China Rich Girlfriend continues to follow Nick and Rachel, but the movie adaptation will need to be different due to the changes the first film made. Since the first book ended with Nick estranged from his mother and grandmother and the future of his relationship with Rachel uncertain, China Rich Girlfriend starts at a significantly different place. Still, the second book also sees Nick and Rachel planning their wedding, before traveling to China. A number of new characters are also introduced like Carlton Bao and Colette Bing. China Rich Girlfriend also dives deeper into the relationship between Nick's cousin Astrid (Gemma Chan) and Charlie Wu (Harry Shum Jr.), which was relegated to the mid-credits scene of Crazy Rich Asians.
No matter the changes Crazy Rich Asians made when adapting the first book, there's plenty of story to be mined from the sequel for a second film. In fact, producer Simpson told THR, "We have a plan with Kevin [Kwan] for the next two films." So, the creative team on Crazy Rich Asians clearly has an idea of how they would develop the story of the first movie into sequels and adapt the other novels in Kwan's trilogy - China Rich Girlfriend and Rich People Problems. Still, without an official green light from Warner Bros. it's unclear if the Crazy Rich Asians sequel will actually move forward. Although the success of the movie indicates a follow up seems likely, fans will have to wait and see if a sequel to Crazy Rich Asians actually becomes a reality.
Release Date:
- Crazy Rich Asians (2018) release date: Aug 15, 2018
