‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Sequels To Shoot Back-To-Back
Fans of the cultural phenomenonCrazy Rich Asianswill soon be flush with sequels. We already knew that aCrazy Rich Asianssequel, based on authorKevin Kwan’s follow-up novelChina Rich Girlfriend, was in the works, but producersNina JacobsonandBrad Simpsonhave revealed that twoCrazy Rich Asianssequels will be filmed back-to-back, likely in 2020.
Crazy Rich Asianswas a watershed moment for Asian-American representation in Hollywood, sparking awave of Asian representationat the movies and in TV, and scoring theJon M. Chucomedy two Golden Globe nominations. So it’s no surprise that the all-star cast — including Golden Globe-nominated actressConstance Wu,as well asHenry Golding,Gemma Chan,Sonoya Mizuno,Awkwafina, andMichelle Yeoh —are in high demand.
To combat their cast’s increasingly packed schedules, producers Jacobson and Simpson toldDeadlinethat they currently plan for theCrazy Rich Asianssequelsto shoot back-to-back. The sequels will adapt Kwan’s next two novels in hisCrazy Rich Asianstrilogy,China Rich GirlfriendandRich People Problems. Deadline writes:
The script is currently being worked on by Adele Lim and Peter Chiarelli. By having fans wait a while upfront, “we’ll make it up to them on the back end,” says Jacobson, “by shooting two films together.”
But the cast members aren’t the only ones whose profiles have skyrocketed. Chu is just as in-demand as his stars, currently working on a feature adaptation of the Tony Award-winning musicalIn the Heights.But as soon as that film goes into post, he will likely prep the next twoCrazy Rich Asianssequels for a 2020 shoot, Deadline writes. The next film will take us to mainland China, following protagonist Rachel Chu (Wu) in her search for her father.
Though fans have to wait a little longer for the nextCrazy Rich Asiansmovie, they’ll soon be surrounded by a wealth of cultural representation and rom-com fun.
“There’s a great appetite both commercially and critically to see these types of stories, ones which used to be overlooked by an industry that tended to favor stories by people who look like corporate board rooms instead of audiences,” Jacobson said. “Audiences have been ready for a while, it’s corporate and the studios who are just waking up and this year has proved it,” Simpson added.
