Here we go. Who said there are no Asian American movie stars? After teasing us with a juicy sliver of footage last week, the full official trailer for Crazy Rich Asians has finally dropped. And it is hot damn glorious.
If you haven't heard about this movie, you will. Based on the bestselling novel by Kevin Kwan, and directed by Jon M. Chu, the contemporary fish-out-of-water romantic comedy is the first major Hollywood studio movie featuring an all-Asian cast in over 25 years. And judging from the trailer, it's going to be a blast.
Fresh Off The Boat's Constance Wu stars as Rachel Chu, a Chinese American economics professor who accompanies her longtime boyfriend, Nick Young (newcomer Henry Golding), to his best friend's wedding in Singapore. But she soon learns that Nick has neglected to mention a few key details about his life. Not only is his family impossibly wealthy, he's perhaps the most eligible bachelor in Asia, and every single woman in his ultra-rarefied social class is incredibly jealous of Rachel and wants to bring her down.
Check it out:
Henry Golding and Constance Wu were on The Ellen Show to talk about the movie and introduce the trailer.
And here is the official Crazy Rich Asians poster:
When was the last time you saw two Asian romantic leads on the poster for a major Hollywood motion picture?
So this movie is going to be a big deal. It's already a big deal. There will be a lot of people commenting and writing think pieces about how much is riding on a big budget film like this. How this film comes on the heels of an industry-wide conversation on diversity and inclusion. How this film's success could lead to more roles for Asian Americans. That's some heavy expectation to put on any one movie or piece of media, but it's inevitable when it takes Hollywood a quarter century to make another movie starring actual Asian folks.
But here's why I'm most excited about Crazy Rich Asians: it's going to be a blast. It's just going to be fun. It's a frothy, delightful spectacle about folks falling in love and having the time of their lives. White people, this is the kind of shit you take for granted. There are movies like this coming out every week, and Asians have done a pretty great job of occasionally getting to play Best Friend #2. Not this time.
This time, I'm here for the fun.
Crazy Rich Asian hit theaters everywhere on August 17.
