Crazy Rich Asians quickly soared to the top of the box office after its first weekend in theaters. And if not for a last-minute decision over film rights, it nearly missed the big screen.
Featuring an all-Asian cast, America’s hottest romantic comedy generated over $25.2 million over the weekend alone. Since its opening on Wednesday, the film has brought in over $34 million — beating analyst predictions by at least $5 million.
No romantic comedy has fared as well in its opening weekend since 2015’s “Trainwreck,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
It’s also the first time that a romantic comedy topped the box charts since June 2014, CNN reported today.
The genre, once a Hollywood staple, is now dominated by Netflix. However, the producers of Crazy Rich Asians turned down an offer from the streaming giant for a chance to screen the film in theaters.
According to the New York Times, both the film’s director Jon M. Chu and Kevin Kwan, author of the book trilogy that the film is based on, decided “at the final minute” to sell the film rights to Warner Bros., turning down Netflix’s offer of a large, upfront sum.
“To be on the biggest stage with the biggest stakes, that’s what we asked for,” Chu said to The Hollywood Reporter.
Signing over the film rights to Warner Bros. promised aggressive marketing and greater publicity, but was a gamble in terms of profit; a contract with Netflix would have paid at least seven figures for the trilogy, even if it flopped.
“But Jon and I both felt this sense of purpose,” Kwan added. “We needed this to be an old-fashioned cinematic experience, not for fans to sit in front of a TV and just press a button.”
Given the movie’s impressive numbers so far and its 92 percent rating on the film site Rotten Tomatoes, it seems like the gamble will pay off.
“The better-than-expected debut for Crazy Rich Asians shows that the film’s universal themes and sheer entertainment value was an irresistible proposal for moviegoers,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at comScore, to CNN. “Hopefully this is another signal to Hollywood that diversity and inclusion is good business.”
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