It appears that the impressive opening weekend has Warner Bros. becoming a bit bullish on the “Crazy Rich Asians” franchise, as the studio has already begun development on the intended sequel, with the entire cast and crew, including director Jon M. Chu, returning.
THR is reporting that due to the $26.5 million opening weekend ($35 million five-day opening), which is the best rom-com opening in years, WB is ready to go all-in with the sequel “China Rich Girlfriend.” The second book in the ‘CRA’ trilogy, from author Kevin Kwan, sees a continuation of the main story between Nick and Rachel, as they attempt to find her absent father.
However, the sequel also follows breakout star Gemma Chan’s Astrid as she begins her second romance with Charlie (played in the closing moments of ‘CRA’ by actor Harry Shum, Jr.), as well as Kitty Pong, the gold-digging actress that was last seen grinding on Bernard. Obviously, there’s a lot of anticipated hijinks to see in the sequel.
As of right now, there’s no official greenlight for a sequel, as WB is still waiting to see how the box office pans out, but if the opening weekend is any indication, “Crazy Rich Asians” is expected to pull in close to $100 million domestically, as it begins its slow rollout to the rest of the world. If this comes to fruition, based on the film’s $30 million budget, WB would be incredibly happy.
This is also great news for the cast and crew. THR spoke with director Jon M. Chu, who talked about how he’s excited to return to the film, and is happy that he’ll get a chance to fulfill some promises he made to the cast.
“The idea is to tell the story in the next movie,” Chu said, when explaining Shum’s cameo in the film. “I made a promise to Harry, so I’m going to do it.”
He also confirms Kitty’s expanded role in the sequel, which justifies his hiring of Singaporean star Fiona Xie for the role, saying, “We needed to hire somebody who can really act, because in time she becomes much more significant. I think she’s scared that we’re never going to make that one, but we are. I’ll make it happen.”
And as for the cast, they seem to be excited for a potential return, as well. “I hope there’s something in the future,” star Henry Golding said. “It would be so much fun to get everybody back together, back to sweaty old Singapore.”
However, fans of the series are going to need a little patience, as Chu is set to helm the long-in-development big-screen adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first musical “In the Heights” before “China Rich Girlfriend.” That being said, the report states that the sequel will take priority immediately after the musical.