'Crazy Rich Asians' hits Chinese theaters

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01:58

“Crazy Rich Asians” has finally made its way in China, debuting in the world's second-biggest movie market on Friday to modest audiences.

The nationwide release of the hit summer flick was preceded by a premiere screening last Sunday in Beijing, where actress Michelle Yeoh (who plays the stern Eleanor Young), director Jon M. Chu and producer John Penotti were greeted by enthusiastic moviegoers.

"Asian actors are ready," said Chu, referring to his decision on an all-Asian cast, adding, "They deserve a chance to show themselves to the world."

The premiere screening in Beijing on November 25.

The plot

The film is an adaptation of the novel of the same name written by Singaporean-American writer Kevin Kwan. The romantic comedy begins when Rachel Chu (Constance Wu), a young Chinese-American New Yorker, travels to Singapore to meet the family of charismatic boyfriend Nicholas Young (Henry Golding), only to find that his family is one of the wealthiest on the island nation.

The movie stars actors of different Asian heritages and has been dubbed by some as the Asian “Black Panther” for being the first Hollywood movie to feature an Asian-only cast since 2002's “Better Luck Tomorrow.”

Trailer for Crazy Rich Asians.

The film beat expectations after debuting on the big screen by resonating with generations of Asian descendants in the U.S. Asian-Americans of all generations flocked to movie theaters to see a love story that finally bridged the gap between their traditional blood ties and real-life experiences.

The film has so far raked in some 1.6 billion yuan (228 million US dollars) in global box office – over seven times its production cost. On Rotten Tomatoes, it received an impressive score of 92.

The problem

The success of the Warner Bros production is not to be underestimated, but many have doubted the ability of the film to repeat its success story in the Chinese market, especially after a four-month delay since it was initially screened in August in overseas markets. The film raked in a little more than eight million yuan from its opening weekend, barely registering in the big Chinese market.

Days before its release, on Maoyan, a Chinese online movie ticketing website, only 9,229 users marked their interest in watching “Crazy Rich Asians” on the presell page of upcoming films. In comparison, there were 62,477 people interested in Studio Ghibli's "My Neighbor Totoro," which will be released on December 14, and 15,765 people showed interest in Mel Gibson's "Blood Father," which hit the screens the same day as "Crazy Rich Asians.”

On film ticking website Taopiaopiao, the situation was the same. Some 18,000 users said they were interested in seeing the film, but that number was eclipsed by the 48,000 users who were looking forward to seeing Indian drama "Pad Man" and the 111,000 people eager to watch "My Neighbor Totoro."

"After all, it is a cliché Cinderella story full of Hollywood stereotypes about Asians and Chinese people," one user commented on Maoyan.

Others have stressed the film's importance to Asians in the mainstream film industry rather than the story itself. "This is a major breakthrough! You want more Hollywood movies with Asian actors, support this one," another comment read.

Michelle Yeoh at the premiere screening in Beijing on November 25.

Unlike with "Venom" and "Fantastic Beasts 2," movie theaters are also taking a prudent approach to screening "Crazy Rich Asians", with an estimated film row piece rate of 3.9 percent in Beijing, a comparably low rate for a popular Hollywood commercial film.

Meanwhile, the Chinese movie "A Cool Fish" surpassed the "Venom" in single-day box-office revenue since last Thursday. With an astonishingly small budget of 30 million yuan, the dark horse raked in over 627 million yuan in 18 days. “A Cool Fish” and “Venom” are dominating film row piece rates of 28.2 percent and 20.1 percent.

Besides the current rivals, the "Blood Father," DC Comics' "Aquaman," "My Neighbor Totoro," and "Pad Man" are also lined up for their China debut, eyeing their own share of the market, which will unquestionably push the competition fiercer than ever.

The reception

CGTN interviewed some moviegoers in Beijing. Though audiences were small, people who saw the film liked it a lot.

Most of the opening day crowd heard about the movie from news reports on its success, social media and word of mouth from overseas friends. They showed interest in both the plot and the all-Asian cast, but also wanted to support the Asian community in Hollywood. However, they seemed to care more about how Hollywood sees and depicts Asians to the world, and how the movie will shape and impact the careers of Asian professionals in the film industry. But still, they mentioned that there was little interest in the film within their friend groups.

A poster of the "Crazy Rich Asians"

“I thought it was very good," one audience member said after seeing the movie. "Although it was about an old story of Prince Charming falling love with Cinderella, it was told in modern day, and I love it.”

For many viewers, though they knew about the Cinderella-esque plot, the way the story was told worked well. The movie also managed to show the conflicts between the beliefs of "fresh-off-the-boats" and the older generations.

“To every girl that believes in love and romance, Crazy Rich Asians deserves your ticket,” one viewer told CGTN, stating that she was moved to tears.