Opinion: why a Crazy Rich Asians film franchise would be great for Asian actors
Kevin Kwan’s novel, and follow-up China Rich Girlfriend, offer rich material for romantic comedy, and fabulous locations including Hong Kong. So it’s great news a film deal is in negotiation
Crazy Rich Asians, Kevin Kwan’s novel about a New York University professor who discovers that her historian boyfriend is from a wildly wealthy family when they travel to Singapore for his best friend’s wedding, is the kind of novel that’s just begging to be adapted into a movie.
It’s got fabulous clothes, thanks to that historian boyfriend’s bespoke wardrobe and his cousin’s penchant for couture clothes. It’s got gorgeous locations: the action zips from Manhattan, to Singapore, to Macau and islands in the Indian Ocean, to Hong Kong. And it’s got the sort of well-constructed romantic drama, rooted in real challenges for the couple, on which the best romantic comedies rely.
But just because something would make a dream movie doesn’t mean that it will happen. And while Crazy Rich Asians was optioned in 2013, a sequel, China Rich Girlfriend, hit bookstores before a Crazy Rich Asians adaptation even got moving. So it was terrific to hear recently that the project is moving forward, with director Jon Chu negotiating a deal to bring the book to the screen. And at a moment of intense discussions about the ways Asians and Asian-Americans are portrayed onscreen, Crazy Rich Asians offers a rare opportunity not just for a romantic comedy that stars actors of Asian descent but also for a whole romantic comedy franchise.
