The Crazy Rich Asians gang is getting back together. Jon M. Chu, who helmed the groundbreaking film that ruled the box office with a $35.3 million five-day opening, is planning to return for the sequel. Warner Bros.’ is moving forward with development on the follow-up, with plans to reunite the first movie’s original team, including producers Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson of Color Force and John Penotti of Ivanhoe.
Chu, whose past credits include 2016’s Now You See Me 2 and 2013’s G.I. Joe: Retaliation, does have a packed schedule, but sources say he’d likely helm the follow-up to Crazy Rich Asians after shooting the long-awaited adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first musical, In the Heights, which Warners has scheduled for a June 26, 2020, release.
The plan is to also bring back screenwriters Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim, who penned Crazy Rich Asians), although the deals have not yet been set.
The film has also been hugely buzzy due to its status as the first major studio movie to feature an all Asian and Asian-American cast since 1993’s The Joy Luck Club, and that buzz has been backed up by great reviews. Had Crazy Rich Asians not been such a success, it could have, and probably would have, been used as an excuse for Hollywood to not pursue more films with Asian or Asian-American leads, romantic comedies, or some combination of the two.
But because Crazy Rich defied those unfair expectations, it’s helping open the doors for more representation on film, and perhaps revitalizing a genre Hollywood has largely ignored. A Crazy Rich Asians sequel should only keep the momentum going.
Source: THR
