Co-writer Adele Lim is no longer involved in writing the sequel to Crazy Rich Asians, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Since Crazy Rich Asians stormed onto the scene with great box-office success, fans have been waiting for a sequel. Crazy Rich Asians was based on the first book in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich trilogy.
The movie’s director John M. Chu said that he wanted to keep the original creative team intact for the sequels. However, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Lim has left because of issues over pay inequity.
Co-writer Peter Chiarelli, an experienced feature writer, was going to be paid more than Lim, who despite having written for television had not written a feature prior to Crazy Rich Asians. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lim declined to give exact numbers, but sources say that Warner Bros.’ starting offers were $800,000 to $1 million for Chiarelli and $110,000-plus for Lim.
When Lim walked away from a deal with the movie last fall, Color Force (the production studio) spent months trying to find a writer of Asian descent to fill Lim’s position. In February, they offered Lim another deal with pay close to Chiarelli’s. Chiarelli also offered to split his fee with her. Lim declined.
“Pete has been nothing but incredibly gracious, but what I make shouldn’t be dependent on the generosity of the white-guy writer,” Lim told The Hollywood Reporter. “If I couldn’t get pay equity after CRA, I can’t imagine what it would be like for anyone else, given that the standard for how much you’re worth is having established quotes from previous movies, which women of color would never have been [hired for]. There’s no realistic way to achieve true equity that way.”
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