With the spotlight back on the original film following Jon M. Chu’s success with Wicked, a new Crazy Rich Asians adaptation is coming to Max. Kevin Kwan’s series of romantic novels first made its way to the screen with the 2018 film helmed by Chu, centering on a Chinese-American professor who travels with her boyfriend to Singapore for the wedding of his best friend, only to discover his family is one of the richest in the country. Led by Constance Wu and Henry Golding, the original Crazy Rich Asians was a critical and commercial hit, sparking plans for a sequel.
The Hollywood Reporter has brought word that Max is developing a TV adaptation of Crazy Rich Asians. It’s currently unknown if the show will be connected to the 2018 movie adaptation in any way, though is still expected to be based on Kevin Kwan’s novel series, with Jon M. Chu and original film co-writer Adele Lim returning for the show. Chu will executive produce the project via his Electric Somewhere banner alongside Lim, who will also serve as showrunner, via her 100 Tigers label, Kwan, Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson for Color Force.
What The TV Show Means For The Crazy Rich Asians Franchise
Nothing Should Be Ruled Out Just Yet
While this is the first positive update the series has seen in years, the Crazy Rich Asians TV show isn’t the first time the franchise has looked to grow in a direction other than a sequel. A spinoff focused on Gemma Chan’s Astrid was reported to be in the works in mid 2022 with Barry alum Jason Kim set to script, though there have been no updates since. Reports have also swirled multiple times of a TV show expansion, with HBO boss Casey Bloys indicating in 2024 that Warner Bros. Discovery was working on such a project, though nothing was confirmed.
That being said, even with the studio moving ahead with the TV show, that doesn’t entirely mean that Crazy Rich Asians 2 is no longer happening. WBD and Chu have remained adamant over the years that they are still committed to producing the follow-up to the hit rom-com, as well as a third movie to finish adapting Kwan’s novels. However, amid reports of changing screenwriters and potential production starts, Chu has frequently stated that the sequel wouldn’t move forward until he felt that the script felt like a worthy follow-up to the original.
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The other major thing that was notably holding Crazy Rich Asians 2‘s development back was Chu’s busy schedule with bringing Wicked to the big screen with the two-part movie series, the first of which is currently nominated for 10 Oscars, including Best Picture. The second is currently in post-production and set for a November 2025 release, but with him now onboard to get back into the world of Kwan’s novels, his schedule may be swinging back in the direction of not only getting the show off the ground, but also the long-awaited sequel.
Our Take On The Crazy Rich Asians TV Show
Plenty Of Promising Angles To Expand The Universe
While there are still a lot of unknown elements to it, the Crazy Rich Asians show actually seems like a promising venture for the franchise. Having both Chu and Lim return for the show is a promising assurance of their continued interest in the property, plus the wide ensemble of characters introduced in the first film offers plenty of opportunities to grow the universe beyond Rachel and Nick, whether it’s Astrid’s reunion with Harry Shum Jr.’s Charlie, as teased in the first movie’s mid-credits, or a prequel focused on Michelle Yeoh’s Eleanor in her youth.
Source: THR
Crazy Rich Asians
9/10
- Release Date
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August 15, 2018
- Runtime
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121 Minutes
- Director
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Jon M. Chu
- Writers
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Pete Chiarelli, Adele Lim