It’s been four years since Jon. M Chu’s groundbreaking film became the highest-grossing romantic comedy in nearly a decade and changed the course of Asian representation in Hollywood. Based on Kevin Kwan’s bestselling novel of the same name, the 2018 feature film starred Henry Golding as the scion of an ultra-wealthy family who brings his Chinese-American fiancé (Constance Wu) back to Singapore, alongside a predominantly Asian cast that also included Michelle Yeoh , Gemma Chan and Awkwafina.
Now the sequel to the film is officially underway with a new screenwriter.
According to a Deadline report released Monday, Warner Bros. has hired Chinese-Australian author Amy Wang to write the sequel, which Chu will once again direct.
Wang, who is currently involved in two upcoming Netflix projects and won a Cannes Lion Award for her short film Unnatural in 2018, will take the reins from the first film’s screenwriters Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim.
Lim, a Malaysian-born writer who had mostly worked for television, said in September 2019 that her white co-writer Chiarelli was paid nearly 10 times her salary for working on the two planned “Crazy Rich Asians” sequels.
At the time, Lim received a starting offer of over $110,000 from Warner Bros., while Chiarelli’s offer ranged from $800,000 to $1 million, according to The Hollywood, since he had previously starred in The Proposal and Now You See Me 2. reporter had contributed.
Lim ended the project because of the significant pay differentials, which the studio claimed fell within industry standard ranges based on the writers’ experience. But Chu and cast members Chan and Awkwafina released statements supporting Lim.
“I agree with Adele that gender equality is critical to further educating our industry and we still have a long way to go,” Chu wrote at the time, adding that he hopes Lim will return to film.
The director explained that he fought for Lim to get a better deal, but that “a lot of time had passed and she turned down the offer.” Lim has since co-written Disney’s recent animated feature Raya and the Last Dragon.
After the dispute over the wage gap, the second installment remained in limbo. Many Crazy Rich Asians stars, including Golding, Chan and Awkwafina, who went on to star in huge blockbuster projects, have spoken out about the expanded development of the sequel in the years since.
“I’m always angry [director Jon M. Chu] about it, and he tells him the same thing every time: They’re trying to figure out the script,” Golding told E! News earlier this month. “I know they’re working on it, but hopefully sooner rather than later.”
The next film is likely to draw inspiration from Kwan’s follow-up novel China Rich Girlfriend, which focuses on Wu’s character as she discovers her long-lost father is connected to China’s wealthy elite. The Deadline report notes that a third film is still progressing as planned, with all plot and further details under wraps.