Gemma Chan Shares Candid Update on ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Sequel
Get ready for another crazy rich adventure.
Eight years after Crazy Rich Asians was released—leading to speculation and many delays regarding a potential sequel—HBO has announced an eight-episode follow-up TV series is officially in development, with original stars Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Ronny Chieng and Michelle Yeoh returning to reprise their roles.
“The global sensation continues,” HBO Max shared in a video announcement Oct. 8, which featured clips from the 2018 beloved film. “New series in production 2027.”
While plot details are under wraps, the network confirmed the upcoming one-hour drama series “will pick up after the events of the blockbuster film that became the highest-grossing Hollywood studio romantic comedy at the North American box office in nearly a decade,” per HBO.
But the four OG cast members aren’t the only ones from the Crazy Rich Asians family who are coming back.
After all, the film’s director Jon. M Chu, co-writer Adele Kim and producers Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson are returning for the new project. For the HBO series, Kim has been tapped as showrunner and will executive produce alongside Chu, Jacobson and Simpson.
Since Crazy Rich Asians’ release, fans have long been waiting for a sequel, but the road to a potential second installment was met with a series of challenges, resulting in years of delays.
And, for Chu, “bringing everyone back together” to continue the story “feels like coming home.”
“It’s been incredible watching audiences make this movie part of their lives, from mahjong nights to becoming the ultimate airplane movie,” he shared in HBO’s announcement, “and I can’t wait to share what comes next.”
Chu added, “Finally, I get to answer the question I’ve been asked almost every day for eight years: ‘When are we getting the sequel?’ Well… bok bok b—h, we’re back.”
Sanja Bucko/Warner Bros/Kobal
And while fans will undoubtedly be excited about Wu and Golding—who play Rachel Chu and Nick Young, respectively—and other stars coming back, what about those who weren’t revealed to be a part of the new TV series, including Awkwafina and Gemma Chan?
Well, it was just recently that Chan expressed that she was “hopeful” that a Crazy Rich Asians sequel project would work out, sharing that she was interested in seeing what happened to her character Astrid Leong after the events of the film.
“I wish I had some juicy info,” she told E! News in June. “I’m the last person to find out.”
“There’s so much to live up to,” Chan continued. “It’s been a while now, so everything has to be as good as [the first film], if not better.”
For a look back at everything that was previously shared about a Crazy Rich Asians sequel, keep reading…
Sanja Bucko/Warner Bros/Kobal
What Has Caused the Delay of a Crazy Rich Asians Movie Sequel?
Word of Jon M. Chu returning to direct Crazy Rich Asians 2 first spread in 2018 after the success of the first film. But as time went on, there were reports of a writer change.
In 2019, Chu spoke out after The Hollywood Reporter published an article stating Adele Lim left the sequel over an alleged pay disparity between her and co-writer Peter Chiarelli.
“Because I am close with Adele, when I discovered she was unhappy with the initial offer, the producers, myself, and the studio executives leapt into action to ensure we got to a place of parity between the two writers at a significant number,” he wrote on social media, per a screenshot shared by Deadline. “It was both educational and powerful to hear all facets of the debate. Unfortunately, by the time we came up with several different ways to satisfy everyone’s needs, a lot of time had passed and she declined the offer.”
Chu added he was proud of Lim for being “able to stand up for her own measure of worth and walk away when she felt like she was being undervalued.”
Schedules have also led to the wait. Chu, for instance, went on to direct In the Heights and Wicked, and Michelle Yeoh starred in Everything Everywhere All at Once.
“The amazing great thing is that everyone got so busy,” author Kevin Kwan told GMA in 2024. “It blew up the careers of Jon Chu and all the actors. Michelle won an Oscar. So they have to do a few amazing victory laps. But I think now everyone’s ready to get back and make Crazy Rich Asians 2.”
Eric Charbonneau
There was also the matter of the script. “I won’t bring everyone back unless it’s worth it,” Chu said on a November 2024 episode of Deadline‘s Crew Call podcast. “There’s too much on the line for everybody.”
And he wants the sequel to be at the same level as the first film.
“I want the best thing,” the filmmaker added. “I want it to be worthy of what Crazy Rich Asians 1 was.”
Yeoh understands this pressure. “I think sometimes it’s hard when you’ve got such a big success, and you say, ‘How do I better it?'” she said at Kering Group’s 2023 Women in Motion Talk captured by Variety. “And that’s the biggest chip on the shoulder: ‘Do I make it better, bigger, this, that?’ I think they are trying to find the right story. But Kevin Kwan is endless with his stories, so we will see other things.”
And Harry Shum Jr. agrees taking the time to nail down the story is the best approach: “You know when you make a sequel, sometimes it’s so sped up and you do it so quickly and you don’t get the story right,” he told E! News at the 2023 Oscars. “So, they’re just really trying to get it right so they can give the fans what they want.”
Doubleday
What Is the 2nd Novel in the Crazy Rich Asians Book Trilogy About?
Titled China Rich Girlfriend, the book is set before the wedding of Rachel Chu and Nick Young (played by Constance Wu and Henry Golding in the movie). However, she isn’t in bridal bliss.
“Rachel still mourns the fact that her birth father, a man she never knew, won’t be able to walk her down the aisle,” the description on author Kevin Kwan‘s website reads. “Until: a shocking revelation draws Rachel into a world of Shanghai splendor beyond anything she has ever imagined. Here we meet Carlton, a Ferrari-crashing bad boy known for Prince Harry-like antics; Colette, a celebrity girlfriend chased by fevered paparazzi; and the man Rachel has spent her entire life waiting to meet: her father.”
The sequel brings back characters from the first book, including Nick’s mother Eleanor Young (Yeoh), Goh Peik Lin (Awkwafina), Astrid Teo (Gemma Chan) and Charlie Wu (Shum).
At one point, there were rumors the film sequel would combine the second book with the third, Rich People Problems. But as Chu previously noted, they didn’t follow the storyline of the first novel to a tee.
“We’ve tried all different versions,” he said on Crew Call. “It’s hard because people think the first movie’s like the book, but it actually is not. It’s the right spirit, but the plotting is very different. And so you can’t just go and translate. And we’ve tried versions, and the fact is that we just haven’t gotten there.”
Kevin Mazur/Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
What About the Crazy Rich Asians TV Show?
In February 2025, news broke that HBO Max is developing a TV adaptation of Crazy Rich Asians, with Lim serving as showrunner and her, Chu and Kwan fulfilling the roles of executive producers.
However, citing sources close to production, Deadline reported the show will not replace the second movie.
“We’re working on it,” Chu told Entertainment Tonight in April 2025 when asked about the sequel. “But we’re working on a Max show as well with some of the other stories as it goes along. I won’t say too much, but there are things that are moving.”
As for the thought process behind taking Crazy Rich Asians to the TV screen?
“We needed more real estate. That was the reality,” Chu told The Hollywood Reporter in March 2025. “We developed the movie over and over and over again, and we’re still working on a version of something that I won’t talk about now.”
He added, “I don’t know if it’s in lieu of a sequel. Every character we wanted to explore needed more room, and a movie just wasn’t doing it for us. And we got to bring Adele back into the fold.”
Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images
HBO Announces Crazy Rich Asians Follow-Up TV Series
Nearly two years after a TV series was reported to be in the works, HBO revealed in October 2026 that an eight-episode sequel drama series was officially in development, with Wu, Golding, Yeoh and Ronny Chieng returning to reprise their roles.
According to the network, the new original series—which will start production in 2027—“will pick up after the events of the blockbuster film that became the highest-grossing Hollywood studio romantic comedy at the North American box office in nearly a decade.”
Along with the returning cast members, Kim was named showrunner and will executive produce the project alongside Chu and the film’s producers Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson.
As for Chu, specifically, getting the opportunity to continue the Crazy Rich Asians story “feels like coming home.”
“It’s been incredible watching audiences make this movie part of their lives, from mahjong nights to becoming the ultimate airplane movie,” he shared in a statement, per HBO’s press release, “and I can’t wait to share what comes next.”
Emma McIntyre / Staff / GETTY IMAGES
What Has the Cast Said About Doing a Crazy Rich Asians Sequel?
If another Crazy Rich Asians movie were to happen, a lot of the stars would be totally down to return to their characters.
“I don’t know anything,” Wu said on a 2021 episode of the Tamron Hall Show. “I know that I’ll be there when it happens. For me, I like to really focus on my job, which is acting. I haven’t seen a script yet. I know that they’re working on one. I know that I will be super excited to go back if and when it happens.”
But for now, it looks like fans and the cast will just have to stay tuned. “I haven’t got that fax yet,” Awkwafina told E! in August 2024 when asked about the possibility of filming. “I would love to hear news about it.”
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