Years after author Kevin Kwan’s bestseller jumped from page to screen during a turning point for Asian representation in Hollywood, “Crazy Rich Asians” is coming to Broadway soon.
Warner Bros. Theatrical Ventures announced Wednesday that director Jon M. Chu will helm the stage musical based on Kwan’s “Crazy Rich Asians” trilogy. The musical is also based on Warner Bros.’ 2018 film adaptation of the first novel, which Chu directed.
The book was written by playwright Leah Nanako Winkler, with music by Helen Park and lyrics by Amanda Green and Tat Tong. Warner Bros. Theatrical Ventures said the schedule for the “pre-Broadway” deal will be announced at a later date.
The musical “Crazy Rich Asians” marks Chu’s Broadway debut, but he is no stranger to bringing popular stage works to the screen. In 2021, Chu directed the Tony Award-winning film “In the Heights,” directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Later that year, he was announced as the director of Universal Pictures’ Wicked.
Thieu’s Wicked, starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, is divided into two parts, the first in November and the second in 2025. Last year, Chu was selected to direct the film adaptation of Joseph and the Amazing. Deadline reports that “Technicolor Dreamcoat” has been released for Amazon Studios.
A press release from Warner Bros. Theater Ventures describes the new musical “Crazy Rich Asians” as “a fun, charming and hilarious look at what can happen when young love and old money collide.” “It’s a work of art,” he explains.
In Chu’s 2018 “Crazy Rich Asians,” Constance Wu tries to prove herself to a very wealthy and very selective group of lovers (Henry Golding) in Singapore. She played the role of an Asian American woman who struggles with her struggles. At the time of its release, Crazy Rich Asians was the first American film to advertise an all-Asian cast since 1993’s The Joy Luck Club. The cast also included Michelle Yeoh, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong, Gemma Chan, and Nico Santos.
“Crazy Rich Asians,” co-written by Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim, dominated the box office for weeks after its release.
“I remember when I was a kid, I didn’t really see many people who looked like me on the big screen or even behind the screen,” Chu recalled to the Times in 2018. Modern movie protagonists show this experience of Asian Americans going out into the world and discovering Asia, but it’s so important that we’re not just a bunch of Asians. ”
News of Chu’s upcoming musical comes amid uncertainty over the “Crazy Rich Asians” film series. In 2022, Deadline reported that a film adaptation of Kwan’s China Rich Girlfriend sequel was in the works, but its status has remained unclear ever since. A representative for Warner Bros. Pictures did not immediately provide further details about the project to the Times.
