Crazy Rich Asians is an upcoming American romantic comedy-drama film based on Kevin Kwan's novel of the same name. Produced by Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson of Color Force, it is directed by Jon M. Chu. The film stars Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Gemma Chan, Lisa Lu, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong, Ronny Chieng, and Michelle Yeoh, and follows a young Asian American woman who meets her boyfriend's parents only to find out they're one of the richest families in Singapore. It will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures and is scheduled to be released in the United States on August 15, 2018.
Video Crazy Rich Asians (film)
Premise
Based on the novel by Kevin Kwan, Crazy Rich Asians centers on Chinese American economics professor Rachel Chu, who accompanies her boyfriend to Singapore for his best friend's wedding, only to become thrust into the lives of Asia's rich and famous. She discovers that her boyfriend comes from a very wealthy family with a dark past, and that every woman wants him.
Maps Crazy Rich Asians (film)
Cast
Main characters
- Constance Wu as Rachel Chu, Nick's longtime girlfriend and Kerry's daughter
- Henry Golding as Nick Young, Rachel's longtime boyfriend and Phillip and Eleanor's son
Nick's family
- Gemma Chan as Astrid Leong-Teo, Nick's cousin, Charlie's ex-fiancée and Michael's wife
- Lisa Lu as Shang Su Yi, Nick's grandmother and the matriarch of the family
- Michelle Yeoh as Eleanor Sung-Young, Nick's domineering mother and Phillip's wife.
- Ronny Chieng as Eddie Cheng, Nick's cousin and Fiona's husband
- Victoria Loke as Fiona Tung-Cheng, Eddie's wife from Hong Kong and Nick's cousin-in-law
- Remy Hii as Alistair Cheng, Eddie's brother and Nick and Astrid's cousin from Hong Kong
- Nico Santos as Oliver T'sien, Nick's second cousin
- Selena Tan as Alexandra 'Alix' Young, Su Yi's youngest child
- Janice Koh as Felicity Young, Astrid's mother and Su Yi's eldest child
Rachel's family and friends
- Tan Kheng Hua as Kerry Chu, Rachel's mother
- Awkwafina as Goh Peik Lin, Rachel's Singaporean college best friend and Wye Mun's daughter
- Ken Jeong as Goh Wye Mun, Peik Lin's wealthy father
- Koh Chieng Mun as Peik Lin's mother, Neena
Nick's friends
- Chris Pang as Colin Khoo, Nick's childhood best friend and Araminta's fiancé.
- Sonoya Mizuno as Araminta Lee, Colin's fiancée
- Jimmy O. Yang as Bernard Tai, Carol's son and Nick and Colin's former classmate
- Jing Lusi as Amanda "Mandy" Ling, New York socialite and Nick's former girlfriend
Other characters
- Harry Shum Jr. as Charlie Wu, Astrid's ex-fiancé
- Pierre Png as Michael Teo, Astrid's husband
- Fiona Xie as Kitty Pong, Alistair's girlfriend and Hong Kong "soap opera" star
- Amy Cheng as Jacqueline Ling, Mandy's heiress mother
- Carmen Soo as an undisclosed role
- Kris Aquino as an undisclosed role
- Xiaxue as an undisclosed role
Production
Kevin Kwan published his comedic novel Crazy Rich Asians on June 11, 2013. In August 2014, 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 goal 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. In 2014, the US-based Asian film investment group Ivanhoe Pictures partnered with Jacobson to finance and produce Crazy Rich Asians.
Director Jon M. Chu entered negotiations with Color Force and Ivanhoe Pictures in May 2016 to direct the film adaptation. He was hired as director after giving executives a visual presentation about his experience as a first-generation Asian-American. Screenwriters Adele Lim and Peter Chiarelli wrote the screenplay. In the following October, Warner Bros. Pictures acquired the project after what Variety called a "heated" bidding war.
The film will star Constance Wu as the lead Rachel Chu, and Michelle Yeoh will star as Eleanor Young, while newcomer Henry Golding is set to play the male lead Nick Young. Rounding out the supporting cast will be Gemma Chan as Nick's cousin Astrid Leong and Sonoya Mizuno as Araminta Lee. Production is set to begin in April 2017 in Singapore and Malaysia. On April 18, 2017, Filipina actress Kris Aquino was cast in a cameo role. On May 12, it was announced that Ken Jeong had joined the cast.
Principal photography began on April 24, 2017. The film was shot on location in Kuala Lumpur and Penang, Malaysia and in Singapore. The Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion can be seen in the trailer.
Release
Crazy Rich Asians is set to be released in theaters on August 15, 2018, after previously being slated to be released on August 17.
Controversy
The film's casting has been met with both praise--in the U.S. for its all-Asian cast--and received criticism for its ethnic diversity and lack thereof--ranging from criticism towards non-Chinese actors (Golding and Mizuno) playing Chinese roles, to criticism towards the film's ethnic Chinese and East Asian predominance as being poorly representative of Singapore and as being a perpetuation of existing Chinese dominance in its media and pop culture.
Non-Chinese multiracial actors
Some criticized the casting of biracial actor Henry Golding, who is of Malaysian Iban and English descent, as the Chinese Singaporean Nick Young. Korean American actress Jamie Chung, who had auditioned for a role but was turned down for allegedly not being "ethnically Chinese", responded to a question about Golding's casting with "That is some bullshit. Where do you draw the line to be ethnically conscious? But there's so many loopholes..." in an interview published on April 24, 2017. Chung's remarks were met with backlash on social media, with some accusing her of being bigoted against Eurasians, while another felt her comments were hypocritical as she had previously played Mulan, an ethnic Chinese character, in the television series Once Upon a Time. Chung apologized for her comments on April 28, and again to Golding in a Twitter exchange on December 2.
John Lui, an ethnic Chinese reporter of The Straits Times, criticized the casting including that of costar Sonoya Mizuno, who is of Japanese, British and Argentinian descent:
Golding weighed in on the controversy, calling it "quite hurtful," explaining:
Golding's costar Awkwafina also defended the casting, stating:
Sociologist and author Nancy Wang Yuen stated that criticisms of the movie's casting point to deeper issues of racial purity. By deeming Golding "not Asian enough", the detractors were choosing to ignore his Asian heritage. Yuen contrasted Golding's situation to the public perception of former U.S. President Barack Obama, who is also biracial. She noted that "the world sees President Obama as black, but his mother is white...[it's] contradictory to erase Golding's Asian ancestry while obliterating Obama's white ancestry."
Representation and Chinese predominance
In stark contrast to those demanding Chinese or East Asian actors fill its roles, others expressed disappointment in the film's lack of ethnic South and Southeast Asians, Golding being an exception. Kirsten Han, a Singaporean freelance writer, said that it "obscur[ed] the Malay, Indian, and Eurasian (and more) populations who make the country the culturally rich and unique place that it is." Many were critical towards the omission of the country's indigenous Malays and of Indians--the second and third largest ethnic groups in the country, respectively--thus not representing Singapore accurately. As Han points out:
Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore, noted "It represents the worst of Singapore. Erases minorities. Erases the poor and marginalized. All you get are rich, privileged ethnic Chinese." Alfian Sa'at, a Singaporean poet and playwright, commented on the film's title referring to it as "Crazy Rich EAST Asians", further adding "Does a win for representation mean replacing white people with white people wannabes[?]" Referring to Kwan's book, one commenter noted "The book is aware of its lack of minority representation [and] actually alludes to the closed minded attitude of some social circles in Singapore. One of the family members got disowned for marrying a Malay."
Some commenters criticized the film's use of British and American English over that of Singlish.
References
External links
- Crazy Rich Asians on IMDb
Source of article : Wikipedia
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