The long delayed sequel to the 2018 film Crazy Rich Asians took a big step forward today.
Deadline reports that Warner Bros and Color Force named Australian writer Amy Wang to pen the sequel.
She replaces Peter Chiarelli and Adelle Lim who quit in a pay dispute when she learned of a huge pay disparity between Chiarelli and herself. The Hollywood Reporter said in 2019 that the difference was as much as 10 times with Chiarelli receiving as much as $1 million to Lim’s $110,000 salary.
Director Jon Chu stepped in to offer his support for Lim and tried to assist in working out an good deal for her. Chiarelli also backed his co-writer and said he would split his fee with her.
Lim thanked him, but declined the offer saying “what I make shouldn’t be dependent on the generosity of the white-guy writer.”
The studio came back with a better offer for Lim bringing her closer to Charelli, but she declined it.
Co-star Henry Golding has indicated the writing situation isn’t the only reason for the sequel’s delay. He said Chu’s busy schedule has contributed to the long wait, with him directing In the Heights and working as the producer of the TV shows Home Before Dark and Good Trouble, according to ScreenRant.
Wang’s challenge now is to make the sequel to the book work on the big screen.
“It’s a very complicated process because, visually, sometimes a novel doesn’t make as much sense as it would on the screen in a direct adaptation. So you have to really change it up to make it interesting,” said Golding to Digital Spy also in 2020. Popular characters such as Awkawafina’s Peik Lin Goh doesn’t play prominently in book 2, but the audience will demand a story line with her. Wang will have to balance audience expectations and wishes with staying true to the book.
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