A Crazy Rich Asians sequel has already been greenlighted, much to the delight of fans. However, if you were hoping for the movies sooner rather than later, your hopes may be dashed. Constance Wu, who starred in the first installation and would be back for China Rich Girlfriend, revealed it may be longer for the new movie to come together than we initially thought. In a recent interview, Wu said:
I don't know much about the production side of things. But I know that [director] Jon [M. Chu] wants to direct the next one, and all next year he's directing In The Heights.
Constance Wu revealed that Jon M. Chu definitely does want to come back for round 2 after directing the first movie, which makes sense, considering the cultural impact that Crazy Rich Asians had. We previously learned that he, along with Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim, would be collaborating on China Rich Girlfriend. We also knew that In The Heights would be coming up, but it wasn't clear that it would take most of 2019 for that to come together. Which means China Rich Girlfriend might not even really get off the ground until 2020, depending on how timelines work out.
Per Wu's comments at Vulture Festival (via Deadline), China Rich Girlfriend may or may not follow the second book in Kevin Kwan's popular series, but she also mentions she's not super in the know about the creative process. We did previously learn that Astrid would be in the second movie more significantly than she was in the first movie.
This actually totally makes sense, considering Astrid gets plenty of time on the page in the books and is a character that is a big deal outside of the Nick and Rachel relationship that took up a good portion of the first flick. If she's the focal point, however, I wonder if we'll get to see a lot of the stuff about Rachel and her dad.
As for In The Heights, the movie based on Lin-Manuel Miranda's popular and award-winning musical, was dealing with some trouble for a while. The project had been set up at The Weinstein Company, which then went through bankruptcy. A few months ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Quiara Alegría Hudes and more nabbed the rights back. Regardless, it's still taking a while for the flick to move forward.
In turn, it wasn't always a shoe-in that Crazy Rich Asians would be a big box office success. It was a nice win for Warner Bros., I'm sure, but it's not as if the studio went ahead and greenlighted a sequel before seeing how the first flick did.
All in all, everything should work out. Musical fans should be happy to finally be getting In The Heights and fans of Crazy Rich Asians should be happy to get a sequel from the same director. Good vibes all around. The issue will be in the waiting.
As soon as China Rich Girlfriend starts moving forward, we'll be sure to let you know, of course. Plus, be sure to check out all the fun and diverse films coming out next year with our full schedule. On the bright side, the Blu-ray for the first movie will be out tomorrow, so you can be sure to relive your favorite moments, plus a few extras.
