[Note: This story contains plot details of the film Crazy Rich Asians.]
Crazy Rich Asians, the first Hollywood studio film with an all-Asian cast in 25 years, made so much money this past weekend—roughly $34 million, to be exact—that a sequel is already in development at Warner Bros. This news comes courtesy of Deadline, which notes that the entire creative team, from director John Chu to screenwriters Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim to the film’s myriad producers will return. Stars Constance Wu, Henry Golding and Michelle Yeoh have options for the sequel, so you can expect to see them as well.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, you’ll also see more of Harry Shum Jr., the Glee alum who you glimpsed in the film’s mid-credits stinger making googly eyes at Astrid (Gemma Chan). As in Kevin Kwan’s book series, the pair’s budding romance is a fixture of the next installment, as is actress Kitty Pong (Fiona Xie), who finds herself in a love triangle with Alistair (Remy Hii) for Bernard Tai (Jimmy O. Yang). “We needed to hire somebody who can really act, because in time she becomes much more significant,” Chu told THR. “I think she’s scared that we’re never going to make that one, but we are. I’ll make it happen.”
As for protagonists Nick (Golding) and Rachel (Wu), the sequel will find the pair heading to China in search of her father, though the article notes that shooting in China may be an issue, “as its government has in recent years strenuously tried to downplay the country’s uber-wealthy class.” All this said, the sequel hasn’t officially received a green light, so don’t expect it to drop anytime soon. Chu, after all, is currently at work on a film adaptation of In the Heights, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first musical, which isn’t slated for release until the summer of 2020.
In the meantime, let’s take a moment to guess what American pop staple the sequel will (gorgeously) translate into Mandarin.