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| Henry Golding and Constance Wu star in 'Crazy Rich Asians.' |
TO SAY THAT THE MOVIE Crazy Rich Asians is generating considerable excitement and buzz in the Asian American community would be a gross understatement.
"It's more than a movie," said the movie's director Jon M. Chu. "It's a movement."
The movie with its all-Asian cast will have its general release Aug. 15 nationwide but first, all eyes will be on its red carpet premiere Tuesday (Aug. 7). It is expected that fans will be gathering early to catch glimpses of the movie's star-studded cast walk the red carpet. at -- appropriately -- at Graumman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles at 6:30 p.m. The premiere is by invitation only.
Cast members from Australia, Asia and Great Britain are expected to join their American co-stars. Some of the cast you might spot include: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, Gemma Chan, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong, Lisa Lu, Sonoya Mizuno, Chris Pang, Jimmy O. Yang, Ronny Chieng, Remi Hii, Nico Santos, Jing Lusi, Kris Aquino and director Joh M. Chu.
Industry leader NRG estimates Crazy Rich Asians to debut in the $20 million range for the five-day run.. The film cost a modest $30 million to make. Warner Bros. insiders give a more modest prediction of $18 million. In either case, it would be one of the better showings for a romantic comedy in recent times
To help the historic film meet box office expectations, ddigital media entrepreneur Bing Chen has been employing social media to raise awareness with the hashtag #GoldOpen movement.
"This is a movement—but every movement needs its mafia," posted Chen. "And we know that the old systems only speak Green. That's why 100+ of the nation’s creatives, founders, leaders and their organizations have rallied to buy out theatres (sic) to help secure a $20million+ opening."
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the creative team of director Jon M. Chu and author Kevin Kwan opted for Warner Bros. over Netflix in order to get the movie in theaters.
“We don’t want to just buy tickets, we’re here to buy theaters,” said Chen of the #GoldOpen movement.
One of the reasons Warner Bros. was chosen was so that film could be seen in theaters and box office receipts could validate the film's success, said Chu at a press conference last week in the San Francisco Bay Area where he grew up.
The last time a Hollywood studio movie had a predominantly Asian cast was the Joy Luck Club which in 1993. Netflix, which reportedly offered an enormous guaranteed sum (in seven figures) for the movie rights and a greenlight for two sequels.
In choosing Warner Bros., Kwan and Chu took a risk but also showed confidence in their movie.
Kwan and Chu wanted audience members to "make the conscious decision to go see the movie … to park, sit in the dark, in a big room – it’s worth your time ... that we (Asians) are worth that time to enjoy something so very special, said Chu.
"We needed this to be an old-fashioned cinematic experience, not for fans to sit in front of a TV and just press a button," Kwan told The Hollywood Reporter.
“The intent from the beginning was to make a really great movie so that people can see that (Asians) can be leads in movies,” said Chu.
“The intent from the beginning was to make a really great movie so that people can see that (Asians) can be leads in movies,” said Chu.
The hope is Crazy Rich Asians will perform well on its opening weekend, but more importantly, that #GoldOpen will lead to more diversity on the silver screen.
“We want this to do well because it will help enable a rising tide of other opportunities for us,” said Chen.
The film follows New Yorker Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) as she accompanies her longtime boyfriend, Nick Young (Henry Golding), to his best friend’s wedding in Singapore. Excited about visiting Asia for the first time but nervous about meeting Nick’s family, Rachel is unprepared to learn that Nick has neglected to mention a few key details about his life. It turns out that he is not only the scion of one of the country’s wealthiest families but also one of its most sought-after bachelors. Being on Nick’s arm puts a target on Rachel’s back, with jealous socialites and, worse, Nick’s own disapproving mother (Michelle Yeoh) taking aim. And it soon becomes clear that while money can’t buy love, it can definitely complicate things.
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