HBO orders 'Crazy Rich Asians' series with original stars
HBO has ordered an eight-episode "Crazy Rich Asians" drama that brings back Constance Wu, Henry Golding and Ronny Chieng, with Michelle Yeoh in a recurring role. The show picks up after the 2018 hit film. Filming starts next year, eight years after the movie became a box-office hit.
"Crazy Rich Asians" is coming back, this time as a TV series with several of the original film's stars.
HBO announced Thursday that it has ordered a drama series based on Kevin Kwan's best-selling books, the Los Angeles Times reported. Constance Wu and Henry Golding will return as couple Rachel Chu and Nick Young. Ronny Chieng is back as Nick's cousin Eddie Cheng. Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh will have a recurring role as Nick's demanding mother, Eleanor Young.
The show will pick up after the events of the 2018 film and run for eight episodes, the BBC reported. "It's a 'Crazy Rich' family reunion!" said Adele Lim, who co-wrote the movie. She called it "the sequel we've been waiting for."
Lim will be the showrunner. She will be an executive producer with Kwan, film director Jon M. Chu and movie producers Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson. "Our writers room is humming and we can't wait to share what we've come up with," Lim said. Production starts next year.
The film was a major moment for Asian representation in Hollywood. It featured an all-Asian cast and followed an Asian American woman who meets her boyfriend's very rich family in Singapore. It topped the U.S. box office and was nominated for two Golden Globes.
Plans for a movie sequel fell apart in 2019, when Lim left over a pay gap, the LA Times noted. Golding said more than a year ago that he and others from the film had met to talk about its future.
"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," Chu said.
The series is co-produced by HBO and Warner Bros. Television.
What we know: Four original stars return for an eight-episode HBO series.
What we don't: When it will premiere.
Where outlets agree The Los Angeles Times and the BBC both report that Wu, Golding and Chieng return in their film roles, Yeoh will recur as Eleanor, and Adele Lim is showrunner.
Where they differ The Los Angeles Times says HBO's parent had just closed its $111 billion deal with Paramount Skydance, while the BBC describes that merger as only announced days earlier.