In 2018, Crazy Rich Asians came out in cinemas. It quickly shot to the top of the box office, becoming one of the highest-grossing Hollywood films in almost a decade and cemented its place as one of the best romantic comedies of the late 2010s.
Now, after years of begging and pleading from fans of the film and the best-selling book by Kevin Kwan, HBO Max has announced that a Crazy Rich Asians drama series is on the way.
The series was first rumoured to be in the works in 2025, with writer Adele Lim (who wrote the 2018 film) and director Jon M. Chu attached to the potential project. Now that it has come to fruition, Jon M. Chu — who has since gone on to direct both musical films Wicked and Wicked: For Good — is overjoyed.
“Eight years ago, Crazy Rich Asians changed my life, and I got to make it with the most creative and hilarious group of people I’ve ever known,” he said.
“Since then, this cast has become movie stars, superheroes, arena-filling performers and even an Oscar winner, so bringing everyone back together feels like coming home.
“It’s been incredible watching audiences make this movie part of their lives, from mahjong nights to becoming the ultimate airplane movie, and I can’t wait to share what comes next. Finally, I get to answer the question I’ve been asked almost every day for eight years: ‘When are we getting the sequel?’ Well… bok bok b*tch, we’re back.”
Fans of the book and the film are equally as jazzed.
“Wow, finally some concrete news after all these years!” ” wrote one fan on X (formerly known as Twitter). “They should’ve fast tracked a movie sequel back then, but at least this series will have the OG cast and the prestige of being an HBO series.”
“The way they waited until streaming made Crazy Rich Asians a cult classic before revising it is cute. But the real question is where’s the wedding episode at because we all know that’s what the girls have been waiting for,” wrote another.
“A hit movie is the best pilot test you can get, and with the original cast back the audience is already there on day one,” commented another fan.
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Is the Crazy Rich Asians movie cast returning for the series?
Great news for fans of the original film! So far, four of the original cast has been confirmed to return as series regulars in the one-hour orignial series.
Constance Wu will reprise her role of Rachel Chu and Henry Golding will return as Nick Young.
Meanwhile Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh will be back as the formidable Eleanor Sung-Young, Nick’s domineering mother and comedian Ronny Chieng will return as Nick’s cousin.
What will the Crazy Rich Asians series be about?
The 2018 Crazy Rich Asians film may have felt like a wonderful, full-bodied story, but there is still plenty of character growth and plot left for the series to tell. The film is mainly based on the first book in Kevin Kwan’s trilogy series (also named Crazy Rich Asians) but cuts just shy of the end of the book.
This leaves the end of the 2013 book, along with Kwan’s two follow ups China Rich Girlfriend from 2015 and Rich People Problems from 2017 left for the series to run with.
What exactly might we see in the series, you ask? Well, at the end of the first film we see Nick proposing to Rachel. It’s a beautiful conclusion to the struggles they felt from their clashing of social classes and Nick’s disapproving family. But the film doesn’t delve into the depths of the Young family’s complicated history, the internal politics between families or the depths of the other characters like Astrid and Eddie’s storylines. Hopefully we’ll see the series expand on the book’s lore further.
In the second book, Rachel learns more about her father and biological family, eventually reconnecting with her birth family. Meanwhile, her relationship with Nick is beginning to face new pressures. In China Rich Girlfriend, the world opens up with new characters, secrets and the wider Asian elite, shifting the plot from being mainly focused on Nick and Rachel’s relationship into something much more complex.
Isn’t that exciting?
Why Crazy Rich Asians remains a cultural phenomenon
Crazy Rich Asians was a hit the moment it landed on screens. The film became a major box office success, earning more than $238 million USD worldwide and becoming the highest-grossing romantic comedy in the US in nearly a decade.
It’s success is for a good reason, too. For the first time in a whopping 25 years, a Hollywood film had cast a predominantly Asian cast. Not only that, the film resonated with Asian diaspora audiences who saw their experiences reflected in its exploration of identity, belonging and the tension between different cultures.
Rather than reducing Asian characters to stereotypes, Crazy Rich Asians presented a wide range of personalities, ambitions and relationships, and explored questions of family expectations and tradition to the complexities of wealth and class.
As a result, Crazy Rich Asians played a part in challenging Hollywood’s long-standing assumptions about Asian-led stories and proved that there was global hunger for Asian characters without their cultural identity being the plot’s focus in the mainstream.
@hollywoodreporter #MichelleYeoh talks about the importance of #CrazyRichAsians for Asian American representation #THRRoundtable ♬ original sound – The Hollywood Reporter
Alongside its cultural impact and compelling romance, there’s no denying that audiences were drawn to the lavish luxury the film displayed. After all, the story followed billionaires — and it showed. From extravagant parties to lavish weddings and designer fashion, it was endlessly luxurious and beautiful to behold.
As the film eventually found its way onto streaming platforms and in the available films on airplanes, fans on social media soon began referring to the film as being a “must-watch” and a modern day comfort movie for any long haul flight.
When will the Crazy Rich Asian series come out?
Time to read the book and watch the film again because we have a little bit of time to kill before the series will hit our screens. According to the press release, the HBO Crazy Rich Asians series will start production in 2017. From shooting to editing to having it all ready for our screens, that might take a while.
We anticipate a late 2027 or early 2028 release.
Where can I watch the Crazy Rich Asians film?
Crazy Rich Asians is now streaming on HBO Max.
