Crazy Rich Asians (film)

Crazy Rich Asians is an upcoming American film based on Kevin Kwan's novel of the same name. The film is produced by Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson of Color Force. Jon M. Chu is scheduled to direct. It will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros.

Plot Synopsis

Based on the novel by Kevin Kwan, Crazy Rich Asians centers on American-born Chinese economics professor Rachel Chu, who accompanies her boyfriend to Singapore for his best friend's wedding only to get thrust into the lives of Asia's rich and famous. She discovers that her boyfriend comes from a ridiculously wealthy family with a dark past and that every woman wants him.^[1]

Cast

• Constance Wu as Rachel Chu^[2]
• Henry Golding as Nick Young, Rachel's longtime boyfriend^[3]
• Michelle Yeoh as Eleanor Sung-Young, Nick's domineering mother.^[4]
• Chris Pang as Colin Khoo, Nick's childhood best friend.^[5]
• Gemma Chan as Astrid Leong-Teo, Nick's cousin ^[6]
• Harry Shum Jr. as Charlie Wu, Astrid's ex-fiancé ^[7]
• Awkwafina as Goh Peik Lin, Rachel's Singaporean college best friend ^[8]
• Ken Jeong as Goh Wye Mun, Peik Lin's wealthy father ^[9]
• Sonoya Mizuno as Araminta Lee, Colin's fiancée^[10]
• Pierre Png as Michael Teo, Astrid's husband
• Lisa Lu as Shang Su Yi, the matriarch of the family
• Tan Kheng Hua as Kerry Chu, Rachel's mother

Additionally, Remy Hii portrays Alistair Cheng, Nick and Astrid's cousin from Hong Kong while Nico Santos portrays Oliver T'sien and Fiona Xie portrays Kitty Pong. Amy Cheng portrays Jacqueline Ling and Jing Lusi portrays Amanda "Mandy" Ling, the daughter of Jacqueline who is residing in New York. Selena Tan appears as Alexandra 'Alix' Young while Janice Koh appears as Felicity Young. Ronny Chieng, Jimmy O. Yang^[11], and Carmen Soo have undisclosed roles in the film. Kris Aquino appears in a cameo role.^[12]

Production

Kevin Kwan published his comedic novel Crazy Rich Asians on June 11, 2013. In the following August, producer Nina Jacobson acquired rights to adapt the novel into a film. Jacobson and her partner Brad Simpson intended to produce under their production banner Color Force with Bryan Unkeless developing the project. Their goal was to produce the film adaptation outside the studio system and to structure financing for development and production from Asia and other territories outside the United States.^[13] In 2014, the US-based Asian film investment group Ivanhoe Pictures partnered with Jacobson to finance and produce Crazy Rich Asians.^[14]

Director Jon M. Chu entered negotiations with Color Force and Ivanhoe Pictures in May 2016 to direct the film adaptation.^[15] He was hired as director after giving executives a visual presentation about his experience as a first-generation Asian-American. Screenwriters Adele Lim and Pete Chiarelli wrote the screenplay. In the following October, Warner Bros. Pictures acquired the project after what Variety called a "heated" bidding war.^[16]

The film will star Constance Wu as the lead Rachel Chu,^[17] and Michelle Yeoh will star as Eleanor Young,^[18] while newcomer Henry Golding is set to play the male lead Nick Young.^[19] Rounding out the supporting cast will be Gemma Chan as Nick's cousin Astrid Leong and Sonoya Mizuno as Araminta Lee.^[10] Production is set to begin in April 2017 in Singapore and Malaysia.^[20][21][22] In April 18, 2017 Filipina Actress Kris Aquino was cast in a cameo role.^[23]

The film started shooting on location in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore in April 2017.^[1]

On May 12, 2017 it was announced that Ken Jeong had joined the cast.^[24]

Ethnic casting controversy

South China Morning Post's Edmund Lee reported, "While Golding’s model-like features, British accent and even his sense of belonging towards Singapore all fit the descriptions of Nick in the novels, a minor backlash regarding the actor’s ethnicity can already be found in scattered reaction on social media... casting half-Asians in ethnic Asian roles... has been an ongoing trend in the US. A case could certainly be made that Crazy Rich Asians, populated as it is with Asian talents, should not be singled out for criticism. On a more positive note, Golding’s newfound stardom could at least be considered half a step forward from the diversity problem..."^[25]

Similarly, John Lui of The Straits Times mentioned, "The first and most obvious thing is that Hollywood thinks that one drop of Asian blood makes a person "Asian" or at least "Asian enough"; this is why it has cast Eurasians such as Henry Golding (a Singapore-based host and social media influencer) and Sonoya Mizuno (La La Land, 2016) as Nick Young and Araminta Lee, both of whom are ethnic Chinese characters. The next thing one learns from the casting is that it is all about the bottom line. Nobody makes films to lose money, least of all a major studio like Warner Bros. Using a Eurasian leading man in a romantic comedy solves a lot of cross-border marketing problems - Golding's ethnically ambiguous face on a movie poster simply works, from Bangkok to Beijing, from Taipei to Tokyo, and maybe Toronto."^[26]

References

External links

• Crazy Rich Asians on IMDb