For many different reasons, joy seems somewhat difficult to come by on an average day. However, something that made millions of film fans light up in 2018 was one of the best romantic comedies, Crazy Rich Asians. Word about a sequel to the ever-popular movie began nearly as soon as the rom-com took over the box office, but work on the project has stalled several times. Now, star Henry Golding has noted that “things are in motion” with the sequel, and I hope his wish for Jon M. Chu comes true.
What Did Crazy Rich Asians Star Henry Golding Say About The Sequel And Jon M. Chu?
For many (many) months after Crazy Rich Asians (which stars Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Awkwafina, Gemma Chan, and Michelle Yeoh among many others) debuted and became the biggest rom-com in almost a decade, all people could talk about was China Rich Girlfriend. Based on the second book in Kevin Kwan’s novel series, the proposed big-screen follow-up was announced mere days after the first movie hit theaters, but getting concrete details settled on the who, when, where, why and how of the movie has been a long time coming.
While speaking with E! News recently, though, Another Simple Favor star Henry Golding was asked about progress on the highly anticipated film, and said:
They’re just getting Adele Lim, [who’s] helming. She’s a showrunner, she was one of the writers on the first one with Peter Chiarelli. But, she came over to London, maybe about four weeks ago to see me and Gemma to talk about our characters. So things are happening, you know? Things are, like, in motion.
WOW. This is really good news, but, man. I feel like we’ve heard this before. When China Rich Girlfriend was announced, it was noted that Chiarelli and Lim were back on board to co-write, with the director of the original film, Jon M. Chu, set to return to his position, as well. Unfortunately, it was roughly a year later that word of an unequal pay dispute led to Lim leaving the movie (which Chu supported).
The production then searched for another writer of Asian heritage, but eventually circled back to Lim, though she turned them down again, and late March 2022 saw Amy Wang set to pen the story. Golding didn’t confirm whether or not the script is still being handled by Wang, but Lim (who previously directed one of 2023’s funniest movies, Joy Ride, and is set to direct Princess Diaries 3) appears to be on board to direct. And, that leaves us wondering about the involvement of Jon M. Chu.
As Golding noted, Chu and Lim are actually both currently working on a Crazy Rich Asians series for Max, with Lim as showrunner and both executive producing. But, the In the Heights director is not, apparently, currently on board to play any part in the production of the film sequel. After noting that Nina Jacobson (who’s also exec producing the TV show) has returned to help produce the new movie, Golding added:
Who knows? If we can lock down Jon Chu somewhere there; he’s a billion dollar man at the moment. Oh my god. That guy! But, you know, we’re trying to get back the team as much as possible.
Honestly, with Chu helping out on the show, I doubt that he wouldn’t take some part in helping to get the sequel off of the ground, finally. It makes sense that he wouldn’t have a lot of time to devote to directing the movie, as his blockbuster success with Wicked last year will be followed up by Wicked: For Good, which is set to hit the 2025 movie schedule on November 21. So, let’s all hope that as he’s prepping that musical for theaters, he has some spare time to contribute his particular brand of movie-making magic to the Crazy Rich Asians sequel!
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
