Crazy Rich Asians is a 2018 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Jon M. Chu, from a screenplay by Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim, based on the 2013 novel of the same title by Kevin Kwan.

Additional criticism was also directed at the film for failing to acknowledge Singapore's multiracial demographic by including other Singaporean ethnic groups—such as Malay and Indian actors—as characters, as well as perpetuating stereotypes of East Asians.

While happy for him, Colin expresses concern that Nick, who had previously planned to return to Singapore and run his family's company, may now be considering leaving it to his inept cousins to stay in New York with Rachel.

[note 1] Other cast members include Carmen Soo as Francesca Shaw, Nick's snobby ex-girlfriend;[21] Pierre Png as Michael Teo, Astrid's husband;[17] Fiona Xie as Kitty Pong, Alistair's girlfriend and Taiwanese soap opera star;[22] Victoria Loke as Fiona Tung-Cheng, Eddie's wife from Hong Kong and Nick's cousin-in-law;[23] Janice Koh as Felicity Young, Astrid's mother and Su Yi's eldest child[11][note 2]; Amy Cheng as Jacqueline Ling, Mandy's heiress mother and Eleanor's friend;[24] Koh Chieng Mun as Neena Goh, Peik Lin's mother;[25] Calvin Wong as P.T.

Goh, Peik Lin's brother;[26] Tan Kheng Hua as Kerry Chu, Rachel's mother;[26] Constance Lau as Celine "Radio One Asia" Lim, gossiper and member of Radio One Asia;[18] Selena Tan as Alexandra "Alix" Young-Cheng, Su Yi's youngest child;[26] Daniel Jenkins as Reginald Ormsby, manager of the London Calthorpe Hotel;[27] Peter Carroll as Lord Calthorpe, owner of the London Calthorpe Hotel;[27] Kris Aquino as Princess Intan, a wealthy royal;[26] Tumurbaatar Enkhtungalag as Nadine Shao, one of Eleanor's best friends;[28] Charles Grounds as Curtis, one of Rachel's friends in New York City.

[38] Netflix reportedly fervently sought worldwide rights to the project, offering "artistic freedom, a greenlighted trilogy and huge, seven-figure-minimum paydays for each stakeholder, upfront".

[46] The ancestral Young family home, set at Tyersall Park in Singapore, was filmed at two abandoned mansions that make up Carcosa Seri Negara within the Perdana Botanical Gardens.

[53] After Nick asks Rachel to travel with him to Araminta and Colin's wedding, rumors about his mystery girlfriend soon reach Eleanor at a Bible study session, filmed in the private residence Be-landa House in Kuala Lumpur.

[68] After that scene had been fully scripted, storyboarded, and planned to be filmed as a static side-by-side conversation with simple over the shoulder shots, Chu realized the day before that the energy level was all wrong and changed it to a walk and talk improvised on the spot.

[70] They used dresses and suits from fashion designers such as Ralph Lauren, Elie Saab, Dolce & Gabbana, Valentino, and Christian Dior;[69][71] many of the brands were eager to have their clothes shown off in the film.

[53] The extras who attended the wedding reception were drawn from the Peranakan Association, a historical society, and were asked to wear their own vintage formal clothing to add local flavor to the party.

[96][94] Tourism to Singapore increased following the release of Crazy Rich Asians, attributed in part to the numerous attractions showcased in the film, such as the Marina Bay Sands and Raffles Hotel.

[101] As of January 27, 2019, roughly twelve weeks after the film's home video release, Crazy Rich Asians grossed an estimated $16 million domestically from 782,390 collective DVD and Blu-ray sales.

Large numbers of organizations and individuals buying out theaters to host screenings, as well as general interest in seeing how Hollywood portrayed the city-state, were noted as major contributors to the film's high Singaporean box office totals.

On a panel about the future of film for The New York Times on June 23, 2019, director Chu said: After what I experienced with 'Crazy Rich Asians,' seeing the audience show up, it sort of reinvigorated the idea of going to the movies.

[114][115]The film's theatrical release in China was considered unsuccessful, finishing eighth at the box office opening weekend and losing half of its screens from Saturday to Sunday.

The website's critical consensus reads: "With a terrific cast and a surfeit of visual razzle dazzle, Crazy Rich Asians takes a satisfying step forward for screen representation while deftly drawing inspiration from the classic – and still effective – rom-com formula.

Ho summarizes the film's success as an uphill battle against the season's predominantly superhero oriented audiences, writing: "To many in Hollywood, Crazy Rich Asians might look like a risky bet.

In a crisp, authoritative, sometimes startlingly vulnerable performance that never lapses into dragon-lady stereotype, Yeoh brilliantly articulates the unique relationship between Asian parents and their children, the intricate chain of love, guilt, devotion and sacrifice that binds them for eternity.

Without betraying any overt nostalgia, Crazy Rich Asians casts a fond eye backward as well as Eastward, conjuring a world defined by hierarchies and prescribed roles in a way that evokes classic novels and films.

[130] Peter Debruge of Variety wrote that the movie "expertly manages to balance the opulence of incalculable wealth with the pragmatic, well-grounded sensibility" of its protagonist; he also drew comparisons of the film's visual style and tone to Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby (2013) as well to the wedding sequence in Mamma Mia!

[132] Scott Mendelson, writing for Forbes, found the film to be below average and to have an uneven plot line with contrived humor similar to his opinion of the 2002 film My Big Fat Greek Wedding, writing: "Without having read the book, I might argue that the core flaw of Crazy Rich Asians is that it's so determined to be the Asian-American version of the conventional Hollywood romantic comedy that it becomes a deeply conventional romantic comedy, complete with the bad, the good and the generic tropes.

"[133] He was joined in his criticism by Kate Taylor of The Globe and Mail, who wrote: "As the obscenities of wealth accumulate while a large cast of Asian and Eurasian actors render their many silly characters, the source of the laughter becomes troubling.

"[148] Chung's remarks were met with both praise and criticism on social media, with some accusing her of being biased against Eurasians and noting that she had previously played ethnic Chinese characters in other works.

[161] While promoting his memoir We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story in a May 2022 episode of the podcast How To Fail With Elizabeth Day, Chinese Canadian actor Simu Liu revealed that he auditioned four times for the film but was rejected for allegedly lacking an "'it'" factor", which he said left him "devastated".

[163][164][165] In contrast to those calling for Chinese actors to fill its roles, others, particularly those in Asian countries, expressed disappointment in the film's lack of ethnic Malays and Indians, who have a prominent presence in Singapore.

[166][167] Kirsten Han, a Singaporean journalist, said that the film "obscur[ed] the Malay, Indian, and Eurasian (and more) populations who make the country the culturally rich and unique place that it is".

"[143] However, one commenter noted that the book which the film is based on "is aware of its lack of minority representation [and] actually alludes to the closed minded attitude of some social circles in Singapore.

He also criticized certain decisions regarding representation, such as how the scene at the Newton Food Centre lacked accurate cultural diversity, and that the roles for the limited number of non-Chinese Singaporeans, such as guards and valets, was tokenism.

[200] Lim stated, "that the pay difference represented a greater issue of sexism and racism in Hollywood, as the industry views women and people of color as "soy sauce"—or simply a means to add minor cultural details to screenplays, rather than to provide a substantial writing role".