Can’t buy me the producers of Crazy Rich Asians love.
While many producers would jump at the opportunity to drop a film or a series on Netflix, the team behind the upcoming book-to-movie adaptation of Crazy Rich Asians gave the good ‘ol, thanks but no thanks when the streaming service approached them with a “gigantic payday” of an offer.
No matter how many dollar signs they were offered, director Jon M. Chu and the books’ author Kevin Kwan kept their eyes on the prize. The “prize” being a theatrical Hollywood production a la Warner Bros. The production team did not want viewers to experience the film from behind their smart screens, but rather on the big screen. That’s because Crazy Rich Asians marks the first all-westernized Asian cast since The Joy Luck Club debuted in in theaters in ’93.
“If it came down to money, what are we actually trying to do here?” Chu told Vulture. “Taking it to the theater, it’s a symbol that a Hollywood studio system thinks it has value, and we were all in a position in our careers where we didn’t need the money anyway.”
“It put us emotionally all in and upped the stakes,” he continued. “Without that, we wouldn’t be doing this marketing push. It would just be on the front page of Netflix or wherever it could end up.”
You know where to find me on Aug. 15. Until then, check out the trailer below.
h/t Page Six
