The Hope of Crazy Rich Asians!

I think growing up there was always the stereotype of Bruce Lee which is kinda confusing since he is one of the best fighters and a serious martial artist.  Then, it was Jackie Chan.  A strong pop culture image is Mr. Chow played by Ken Jeong in The Hangover (2009).  This could all change with the John M. Chu film based on the Kevin Kwan best selling novel.  The promotion of Crazy Rich Asians mentions the last time there was an all Asian cast was Joy Luck Club (1993), 25 years ago.  I’ll correct that statement in a bit, but that drama was based on the Amy Tan 1993 novel.  The movie made $32 million at the box office for Buena Vista with a $159,009 limited opening.  This ranks at 48th for the year below Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story and Robin Hood: Men in Tights.  This probably why Hollywood wasn’t quick to adapt Tan’s other books.  The following year was the Asian sitcom All-American Girl fronted by comedian Margaret Cho.  It lasted one season.   

It was in 2015 that debuted the all Asian sitcom based on chef Eddie Huang and his book.  Fresh Off the Boat is currently running and doing well at the ratings going on season five. It’s star, Constance Wu, has become the leading voice for Asian representation in Hollywood.  Of course, she stars in this movie so it will critical if it will become successful apart from her show.  Now, I’m going to go back to correct the 25 year statement, the answer turns out to be less than 25, it is actually 16 years.  Yes, major studio, but there was another film.  The all Asian cast film would be Better Luck Tomorrow (2002), the crime independent film that was the first film for director Justin Lin.  It opened at $360,772 and made $3.8 million total.  Which is why it is not strongly remembered.  Justin Lin is well known however, he directed the third film in the Fast and Furious series, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006).  Then, continued with next three films, Fast & Furious (2009), Fast Five (2011), and Fast & Furious 6 (2013).  He directed the Star Trek film, Star Trek: Beyond (2016).  

The director, Jon M. Chu, started out with Step Up 2: The Streets (2008), then directed G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013), Jem and the Holograms (2015), and then Now You See Me 2 (2016).  So a spotted record with some failures, but still has potential.  The cast includes television personality, Henry Golding, his first film.  There is Michelle Yeoh who brings some cred to the film as a martial arts star, Bond Girl, and of course her role in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), a Chinese co-production.   Yeoh was of course Captain Georgia in Star Trek: Discovery.  Then, of course there is Rachel Chu’s friend, Peik Lin Goh, played by Awkwafina, who was earlier in Ocean’s 8 which pulled in $138 million.  Most interviews are hung up on her name, but that is her name as a rapper, clever and urban. It was her comic lines in this movie that got my attention.  Ken Jeong plays Peik’s father, he of course was in the sitcom, Dr. Ken, which was sadly cancelled in 2017. So the Malaysian lead has a Malaysian parent and the supporting actress is Korean with a Korean father, this almost every happens.   

The film also stars Gemma Chan who currently stars in the sci fi show Humans and is set for the Captain Marvel movie next year.  Nico Santos is also in the movie as Oliver T’sien, cousin to Nick Young, he is currently in the sitcom Superstore.  What struck me about the cast is the diversity of talent, comedians, genre actors, from Malaysia, China, the Philippines, the UK, and everywhere from Virginia to New York.  The cast is already attached to projects, but this film might springboard them to bigger films or shows.  Of course this romance comedy may not be the sensation as Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) which opened at $85 million and pulled in $166 million at the box office.  Crazy Rich Asians opens at 3,303 theaters.  It is outselling Girls Trip on Fandango.  The current story is that 354 sneak previews of the movie were sold out.  

The film currently as a 97% Rotten Tomatoes score so it has support by the critics.  Girls Trip brought in a 90% Rotten Tomatoes score so about the same.  It opened at fewer theaters, but may be good as a baseline.  It opened at $31 million with a total box office of $115 million.  Internationally, it brought in $25 million.  The difference for Crazy Rich Asians will be the international box office, most American comedies don’t do well internationally, but I believe in this case it will double the American box office, and the final box office will be at $200-250 million.  It has a five day opening week starting tomorrow, Wednesday, so predictions have to bring that into account.  Movie web and Hollywood Reporter has it at $26+ million.  I’m predicting an opening at $40 million, maybe that is wishful thinking, but I’m sticking to it.  Will Crazy Rich Asians be the phenomenon like Black Panther?  I won’t be able to see it tomorrow, but have a review up on Thursday.  

#CrazyRichAsians, #ConstanceWu, #HenryGolding, #GoldOpen