Joy Ride (2023 film)

The film stars Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu, and Sabrina Wu, with Ronny Chieng, Meredith Hagner, David Denman, Annie Mumolo, Timothy Simons, and Daniel Dae Kim appearing in supporting roles.

Joy Ride had its world premiere at SXSW on March 17, 2023, and was released in the United States on July 7, 2023, by Lionsgate Films.

Audrey is an overachiever who works as a lawyer for a prestigious firm, while Lolo struggles to make ends meet with her sex-positive art.

Lolo livestreams their idol performance of "WAP" on Instagram Live, only for Kat's skirt to accidentally fall off, revealing a large devil tattoo in her pubic area.

He shows her a video recorded by her birth mother before her death, then reveals her friends had told him he might find Audrey at the grave.

Audrey has started her own law firm, Lolo has begun waiting tables and selling her art, Deadeye has accepted themself as non-binary, while Kat's acting career has recovered and she is planning her wedding to Clarence.

On August 9, 2018, it was announced that Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg were in negotiations to partner with Lionsgate through their production company Point Grey Pictures in a first-look deal to develop film and television projects.

[9] On July 9, 2021, it was announced that screenwriter Adele Lim would make her feature directorial debut on an untitled R-rated comedy film from that deal, with Ashley Park joining the cast.

In a statement, Lim said, "This journey began with me, Cherry, and Teresa wanting to tell a story with characters who look like us, about women who are messy and thirsty, but have so much heart.

Point Grey and Lionsgate have been incredible allies and partners from day one, and I am thrilled to be making my directing debut with them on a story that's so special to me.

[18][19] While the writers were considering an original composition for the scene where the characters pretend to be an idol group, they eventually decided that "WAP" served as "this perfect song that really encapsulated the movie at this pivotal moment", leading Lim to write a letter to Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion asking for usage permission, meeting their approval.

[26] In United States and Canada, Joy Ride was released alongside Insidious: The Red Door, and was projected to gross $7–9 million from 2,820 theaters in its opening weekend.

[33] IndieWire's Marisa Mirabal gave the film a grade of A−, saying that it is "a prime example of how important representation is on screen and proves that Asian American comedians can be just as funny, raunchy, and successful as their white male counterparts.