Crazy Rich Asians TV Series 'Allows Us To Use All The Characters,' EP Explains — Plus, A Film Sequel Update

By Andy Swift, Matt Webb
Crazy Rich Asians TV Series Cast Release Date Max Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures/Everett Collection

More Crazy Rich Asians are on the way... but there's a twist!

Seven years after Kevin Kwan's best-selling book series spawned a blockbuster movie, it's now being developed as a TV show for Max.

The 2018 film's co-writer, Adele Lim, will serve as showrunner, executive-producing alongside Kwan and the film's director, Jon M. Chu.

"We needed more real estate. That was the reality," Chu explained to The Hollywood Reporter at the Oscars on Sunday. (See video below.) "We developed the movie over and over and over again, and we're still working on a version of something that I won't talk about now, but the TV landscape allowed us to use all the characters."

Kwan's trilogy consists of three books — Crazy Rich Asians, which was released in 2013, followed by 2015's China Rich Girlfriend and 2017's Rich People Problems.

The 2018 Crazy Rich Asians movie starred Henry Golding and Constance Wu as central couple Nick and Rachel, joined by a sprawling cast of well-known actors. Notable co-stars included Awkwafina, Gemma Chan, Ronny Chieng, Ken Jeong, Lisa Lu, Chris Pang, Nico Santos, Jimmy O. Yang and Michelle Yeoh, among others.

Because the project is in the early stages of development, TVLine's sister site Deadline reports that it's too soon to say which original cast members might reprise their roles in the new series.

A sequel to the 2018 film has also been in the works for some time, and according to this new report, the Max series does not conflict with the sequel; a second Crazy Rich Asians film is still being developed.

"I don't know if [the Max series is] in lieu of a sequel," Chu says in the THR video, "but it felt clear that every character we wanted to explore needed more room, and a movie wasn't doing it for us."

Would you tune in to a Crazy Rich Asians TV show? And which characters are you hoping to see again? Drop a comment with your thoughts below.

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