Crazy Rich Asians


Crazy Rich Asians is a 2018 American romantic comedy drama film directed by Jon M. Chu from a screenplay by Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim, based on the 2013 novel by Kevin Kwan. The film stars Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Gemma Chan, Lisa Lu, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong, and Michelle Yeoh. It follows a Chinese American professor, Rachel, who travels to Singapore with her boyfriend Nick and is shocked to discover that Nick's family is one of the richest families in Singapore.
The film was announced in August 2012 after the rights to the book were purchased. Many of the cast members signed on in the spring of 2017, and filming took place from April to June of that year in parts of Singapore, Malaysia, and New York City. It is the first film by a major Hollywood studio to feature a majority cast of Chinese descent in a modern setting since The Joy Luck Club in 1993. Despite such praises in the United States, the film was criticized for not solely hiring actors born in Singapore of fully ethnically Chinese heritage, though also being criticized for not adding to the two-hour long runtime to add subplots highlighting the entirety of Singapore's multiracial population – such as those of Malay and Indian descent, while also perpetuating stereotypes of East Asians.
Crazy Rich Asians premiered on August 7, 2018, at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles and was released theatrically in the United States on August 15, 2018, by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film grossed over $238 million against a $30 million budget, making it the highest-grossing romantic comedy of the 2010s, and received praise for the performances of the cast, screenplay, and production design. It received nominations for two Golden Globe Awards, three NAACP Image Awards, four Critics' Choice Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture., two sequels, based on the novel's follow-ups China Rich Girlfriend and Rich People Problems, have been in and out of development for over seven years.

Plot

economics professor Rachel Chu and her boyfriend Nick Young fly to Singapore for his best friend Colin Khoo and Araminta Lee's wedding. Flying first class, Nick confesses his family is wealthy but insists they will love her. After they arrive, Rachel visits her wealthy college roommate Goh Peik Lin, who reveals that Nick's family is extremely wealthy, have a real estate empire and are essentially Singapore royalty. Peik Lin helps her pick out an appropriate dress for the event and drives her to the dinner party at the sprawling Young estate. Rachel's first meeting with Nick's mother Eleanor is awkward, as she disapproves of her Americanness, putting her passions before family. Nick's only cousin who treats her kindly is his closest, Astrid Teo, who is married to Michael. He is a former soldier from a modest background, who is starting a tech company. Discovering that Michael is cheating, she is devastated. Fortunately, Rachel endears herself to Nick's grandmother, matriarch Shang Su Yi.
At both the over-the top bachelorette and bachelor parties, both Rachel and Nick are warned that the Youngs would never consider Rachel good enough for Nick. She leaves her party, only to find a dead fish in their hotel bed, and a message calling her a gold digger. Astrid helps her clean up and comforts her. Nick and Colin swap the party for a quiet beach, where Nick reveals his planned marriage proposal. Although happy for him, Colin reiterates that Nick's union with Rachel would expose her to attacks from Nick's family and community. As Nick and Rachel make dumplings with the Youngs', Rachel admires Eleanor's ring. She reveals she quit law school to marry and start a family. When alone with Rachel, Eleanor reveals that her husband had her engagement ring made when Su Yi refused to give him the family ring. She insists she will never be good enough for him or his family.
Rachel is devastated; Peik Lin convinces her to stand up to Eleanor to earn her respect, so Rachel gets a glamorous makeover for the wedding. Meanwhile, en route to the wedding, Astrid confronts Michael, who blames his infidelity on their financial disparity. At the wedding, Rachel confronts and dismisses Amanda, and impresses others with her stylish gown and her ability to charm an unfriendly aristocrat with her economics knowledge. During the ceremony, Rachel and Nick wordlessly reaffirm their love. At the reception, Eleanor and Su Yi privately confront Rachel and Nick with a private investigator's findings. Rachel's father is not dead, as she believed, but she is the result of an affair. They accuse Rachel of lying to pursue Nick for his wealth and status. He insists they are wrong about her, but Rachel declares she is done with the Youngs. The depressed Rachel returns to Peik Lin's, refusing to talk to Nick or anyone, until her mother Kerry arrives, having been flown in by Nick. She explains that her abusive husband drove her to an old friend for comfort. They fell in love, she became pregnant and fled to the US, fearing her husband would kill them. Nick apologizes to Rachel and proposes, willing to abandon his family to be with her, but Rachel declines. Meanwhile, Astrid moves out with her son Cassian, blaming Michael's insecurities for their marriage's failure.
Rachel invites Eleanor to a mahjong parlor, where she points out that Eleanor has created a stalemate: if Nick gives up Rachel for his family, he might resent Eleanor forever, or he can forsake his family for love. Rachel tells Eleanor she loves Nick too much to force him to choose. Making use of her expertise in game theory, she hands Eleanor the mahjong tile that lets her win and reveals that she could have kept the tile for herself and claimed victory. As Rachel and Kerry board a plane for the US, Nick intercepts them. Declaring his love for Rachel, he proposes with Eleanor's ring, showing they finally have her approval. She accepts, so they stay in Singapore for an engagement party. There, Rachel sees Eleanor, who nods approvingly before leaving. In a mid-credits scene, Astrid looks over at a man standing next to her and smiles, clearly recognizing him.

Cast

  • Constance Wu as Rachel Chu, Nick's girlfriend and Kerry's daughter
  • Henry Golding as Nicholas "Nick" Young, Rachel's boyfriend and Phillip and Eleanor's son
  • Gemma Chan as Astrid Leong-Teo, Nick's cousin and Michael's wife, a fashion icon and socialite
  • Lisa Lu as Shang Su Yi, Nick's grandmother and the matriarch of the family
  • Awkwafina as Goh Peik Lin, Rachel's charismatic confidante and best friend, and Wye Mun's daughter
  • Ken Jeong as Goh Wye Mun, Peik Lin's wealthy father
  • Michelle Yeoh as Eleanor Sung-Young, Nick's domineering mother and Phillip's wife
  • Sonoya Mizuno as Araminta Lee, Colin's fiancée and heiress to a billion-dollar resort chain
  • Chris Pang as Colin Khoo, Nick's childhood best friend and Araminta's fiancé
  • Jimmy O. Yang as Bernard Tai, Nick and Colin's former classmate
  • Ronny Chieng as Edison "Eddie" Cheng, Nick and Astrid's cousin and Fiona's husband from Hong Kong
  • Remy Hii as Alistair Cheng, Eddie's brother and Nick and Astrid's movie-making cousin from Taiwan
  • Nico Santos as Oliver T'sien, Nick's gay and campy second cousin. He refers to himself as "the rainbow sheep of the family" and becomes good friends with Peik Lin.
  • Jing Lusi as Amanda "Mandy" Ling, lawyer and Nick's former girlfriend
  • Harry Shum Jr. as Charlie Wu, Astrid's ex-fiancé. He only has a small role in the mid-credits scene, but the director confirmed that the sequel would focus more on him.
Other cast members include Carmen Soo as Francesca Shaw, Nick's snobby ex-girlfriend; Pierre Png as Michael Teo, Astrid's husband; Fiona Xie as Kitty Pong, Alistair's girlfriend and Taiwanese soap opera star; Victoria Loke as Fiona Tung-Cheng, Eddie's wife from Hong Kong and Nick's cousin-in-law; Janice Koh as Felicity Young, Astrid's mother and Su Yi's eldest child; Amy Cheng as Jacqueline Ling, Mandy's heiress mother and Eleanor's friend; Koh Chieng Mun as Neena Goh, Peik Lin's mother; Calvin Wong as P.T. Goh, Peik Lin's brother; Tan Kheng Hua as Kerry Chu, Rachel's mother; Constance Lau as Celine "Radio One Asia" Lim, gossiper and member of Radio One Asia; Selena Tan as Alexandra "Alix" Young-Cheng, Su Yi's youngest child; Daniel Jenkins as Reginald Ormsby, manager of the London Calthorpe Hotel; Peter Carroll as Lord Calthorpe, owner of the London Calthorpe Hotel; Kris Aquino as Princess Intan, a wealthy royal; Tumurbaatar Enkhtungalag as Nadine Shao, one of Eleanor's best friends; Charles Grounds as Curtis, one of Rachel's friends in New York City.
Crazy Rich Asians author Kevin Kwan has a cameo appearance during the Radio One Asia sequence. Singer Kina Grannis cameos as Colin and Araminta's wedding singer during the wedding sequence.

Production

Pre-production

published his comedic novel Crazy Rich Asians on June 11, 2013. One of the first producers to contact Kwan was Wendi Deng Murdoch, who had read an advance copy of the novel provided by Graydon Carter. Another of the producers who was initially interested in the project proposed whitewashing the role of heroine Rachel Chu by casting a Caucasian actress, prompting Kwan to option the rights to the film for just $1 in exchange for a continuing role for creative and development decisions. In August 2013, 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 initial plan 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. The freedom created by eschewing the typical funding structure would enable an all-Asian cast. Jacobson stated "Getting something in development and even getting some upfront money is an easy way to not ever see your movie get made."
In 2014, the US-based Asian film investment group Ivanhoe Pictures partnered with Jacobson to finance and produce Crazy Rich Asians. John Penotti, president of Ivanhoe, stated "For us, the book fell in our lap kind of like, 'This is why we're doing the company.' Unlike the Hollywood second-guessing, 'Oh my God, will this work? We don't know. It's all Asian,' it was exactly the opposite for us: 'That's exactly why it will work.
Screenwriter Peter Chiarelli was hired to write the screenplay before a director was brought on board. Director Jon M. Chu entered negotiations with Color Force and Ivanhoe Pictures in May 2016 to direct the film adaptation. He was hired after giving executives a visual presentation about his experience as a first-generation Asian-American. Chu was actually mentioned obliquely in the source novel as Kwan was friends with Chu's cousin Vivian. Upon joining the project, Chu insisted on bringing in a screenwriter of Asian descent, Adele Lim, to review and revise Chiarelli's script. Chiarelli was credited with focusing the plot on the dynamic between Eleanor, Rachel, and Nick. Lim also added specific cultural details and developed Eleanor's character.
In October 2016, Warner Bros. Pictures acquired the distribution rights to the project after what Variety called a "heated" bidding war. Netflix reportedly fervently sought worldwide rights to the project, offering "artistic freedom, a greenlighted trilogy and huge, seven-figure-minimum paydays for each stakeholder, upfront". However, Kwan and Chu selected Warner Bros. for the cultural impact of a wide theatrical release.
Although she had initially auditioned for the role of Rachel in mid-2016, Constance Wu could not accept due to a conflict with her work on the television series Fresh Off the Boat. However, Wu wrote to Chu explaining her connection with Rachel's character, and convinced him to push back the production schedule by four months. Production was slated to begin in April 2017 in Singapore and Malaysia.