Crazy Rich Asians is breaking a crazy amount of records.
The Warner Bros. movie, which was released in the United States last Wednesday, is already the first major studio film to feature a predominantly Asian and Asian-American cast since the release of The Joy Luck Club in 1993.
Crazy Rich Asians came in at number one in the box office over the weekend, beating out The Meg and Mile 22, taking in a not-insignificant $25.2 million.
But that’s not all.
The Jon Chu-directed picture is also the first romantic comedy to rake in more than $20 million in its opening weekend in three years, possibly proving that the rom-com isn’t dead. And it was the best performing PG-13 rom-com since Think Like A Man, released in 2012. The film has already earned $34 million since opening.
The film, an adaptation of the best-selling book of the same name and starring Fresh Off the Boat star Constance Wu and newcomer Henry Golding, almost didn’t see a theatrical release at all. Netflix nearly beat Warner Bros. to the punch for the film rights, but the film’s producers reportedly turned down the deal after deciding to prioritize a cinema release.
And while the box office and social media responses have been huge, Crazy Rich Asians did receive a bit of an extra boost: over 100 creatives, founders, and leaders participated in a campaign called #goldopen, in which they bought out entire theaters to ensure wider viewership. The tactic was similarly employed at the time that Black Panther was released.
