'Crazy Rich Asians' makes Chinese mainland debut

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"Crazy Rich Asians," the first Hollywood blockbuster with an all-Asian cast since 1993, premiered on the Chinese mainland on Friday.

The film, with only a 30-million-U.S.-dollar budget, has already grabbed 230 million U.S. dollars in global box office before landing in the Chinese mainland. It has topped the North American box office for weeks during the summer.

Its popularity in Hollywood is in part due to its all-Asian cast, as well as its depiction of the Asian community in the United States.

A still from the film "Crazy Rich Asians" /VCG Photo

The film is a romantic comedy adapted from a best-selling novel by Kevin Kwan about Singapore's wealthy elites.

Directed by Jon M. Chu, the film also stars Constance Wu and Henry Golding. Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh, who is well-known in China for her role in the Chinese Oscar-winning martial arts film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is also among the cast.

Now, with the film's debut in the world's second-biggest movie market, many have been wondering whether it could also sweep the mainland box office.

The film received 6.2 on Douban.com, a Chinese review-aggregation website for films.

It seems that not all the Chinese audience is swoon by the story, as is shown in the comments of the first batch of cinema-goers. Most Chinese viewers said it is still a typical Hollywood story, only with a majority Asian-cast.

Cast of "Crazy Rich Asians" attending SiriusXM's Entertainment Weekly Radio Spotlight in New York City, August 15, 2018. /VCG Photo‍

"This is a story about a bunch of whites pretending to be Asians," reads one of the most-liked comments on Douban.com.

"If the film is expected to change the Westerners' Asian stereotypes by giving them a more Westernized background, from this point of view, it is a success," reads another comment, "but in its essence, it is still the Western values that are at play."

But there are also supporters.

"It is the first all-Asian cast film of Hollywood in 25 years, and it is indeed interesting. What the film means to Asian Americans is what 'Black Panther' is to the African American community. I would definitely support it," one Internet user commented.