HBO has officially ordered the one-hour series Crazy Rich Asians, with film co-writer Adele Lim serving as showrunner, writer, and executive producer, pushed forward by her company 100 Tigers. The series will consist of eight episodes, continuing the story from the 2018 film, and is set to begin production in 2027. Film director Jon M. Chu and original author Kevin Kwan will also serve as executive producers.

The 2018 film was released by Warner Bros, grossing approximately $239 million worldwide on a production budget of about $30 million, making it the first mainstream Hollywood film with an all-Asian cast since 1993's The Joy Luck Club. A sequel film has not been made in the years since. Chu went on to direct In the Heights and Wicked. This series line has been in internal development for about two years, shifting from the film's romantic comedy genre to a drama.

The pay disparity occurred in 2019. Veteran screenwriter Peter Chiarelli, known for writing The Proposal, reportedly had a starting salary for the sequel set at $800,000 to $1 million. Lim, who was writing her first feature film as a television writer, had a starting salary reported to be just over $110,000. Chiarelli proposed splitting his pay, which Lim rejected, stating that her pay should not depend on the generosity of a white writer. About five months later, the studio returned with a near-equal pay offer, which she still did not accept. She referred to this type of cultural polishing role as "soy sauce."

The new series is co-produced by HBO and Warner Bros. Television. Constance Wu, Henry Golding, and Ronny Chieng will return as regular cast members, with Michelle Yeoh returning in a recurring role. Executive producers also include Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson from Color Force, Chloe Dan and Jeannine Tang from SK Global Entertainment, and Naia Cucukov Richards and Rose Lam from 100 Tigers. Chu's company is Electric Somewhere. Lim stated that the writers' room is already in operation, with the eight episodes used to expand on the characters and world from Kwan's original work.

The order came just two days after the completion of the merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, with the post-merger platform operated by Skydance. Casey Bloys announced the project as co-chair of Skydance's direct-to-consumer business, having previously overseen HBO and HBO Max before the merger, which now also covers Paramount+. The combined services have approximately 200 million global subscribers.

The buyers are HBO and Warner Television, looking to revitalize idle IP, while the sellers are the original creators and cast who exited the sequel in 2019. The event is driven by the gap in the sequel film, not new box office data. Funds are flowing from the subscription platform to the eight-episode series, Lim's production company, and returning actors. 100 Tigers, Color Force, and the original cast benefit. The pressure is on the studio model that kept initial feature film writers' pay low based on old pay scales, resulting in the sequel being stalled.

Source: Public information