Jon M. Chu has his hands full with Wicked: For Good (due out on November 21st), but there’s still another sequel that fans are clamoring to see: Crazy Rich Asians 2. And considering the original was one of the best-reviewed movies of 2018, made its presence known at the Golden Globes and put Chu on the map as a respected filmmaker, a sequel was pretty much expected from fans. From the get-go, Chu was on board, but nothing substantial has come of it. Now, he has an update on where Crazy Rich Asians 2 stands and what the follow-up might entail.
As Chu confirmed to Esquire, Crazy Rich Asians 2 is as close to happening as ever. “It’s a real thing. We have scripts, and we’re waiting to be officially ready to go. Our cast will be there.” As far as what might be expected, Chu added that while the book series – which consists of three novels from Kevin Kwan – is definitely an inspiration, they may have to take a different route. “It’s hard to do the continuation of the books, because our characters changed so much in the first movie. It’s so different [from] the books, actually, even though it feels like it’s the same. So you couldn’t go one-to-one. But we can use a lot of inspiration from the book to dig out more story from it.”
This update on Crazy Rich Asians 2 is definitely good news (provided the studio moves forward with it), especially since Chu said last year that a sequel would have to be worthwhile for himself, the cast and fans of the first. With that in place, here’s hoping that the movie will find its way into Chu’s pipeline. But it could be a while, as Chu has a crowded schedule, having been attached to an adaptation of another musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, in addition to Dr. Seuss’ Oh, the Places You’ll Go! and Split Fiction, the movie version of the video game which is set to star Sydney Sweeney.
Do you support a Crazy Rich Asians 2? Do you think audiences will return if it comes after Chu’s other projects?