HBO is making a Crazy Rich Asians series, reuniting the original cast and creative team from the hit 2018 romantic comedy. Officially announced on Thursday, the co-production between HBO and Warner Bros. Television will see Constance Wu, Henry Goulding, and Ronny Chieng all reprise their film roles as series regulars, with Michelle Yeoh recurring.
“Bringing everyone back together feels like coming home,” the film’s director Jon M. Chu wrote in a statement on his Instagram stories. He will now serve as an executive producer on the series. “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 bitch. We’re back.”
Based on Kevin Kwan’s 2013 novel, Crazy Rich Asians follows Chinese American professor Rachel (Wu) as she travels to Singapore with her boyfriend (Goulding) to attend his friend’s wedding. Upon arriving, she soon discovers that Nick’s family are incredibly wealthy, and that his mother (Yeoh) has strong opinions on whether she belongs.
The new HBO series will also be based upon Kwan’s book series, which includes 2015’s China Rich Girlfriend and 2017’s Rich People Problems. It will consist of eight hour-long episodes, with production scheduled to start next year.
“We finally get to make the sequel the world [has] been clamoring for, but instead of one more movie, we’ll have EIGHT EPISODES OF CRAZY RICH MAGIC,” the film’s co-writer Adele Lim posted on Instagram. Lim is also an executive producer, as well as the new series’ showrunner.
Notably absent from the returning cast announcement are Gemma Chan and Harry Shum Jr., who respectively played Nick’s cousin Astrid and her romantic interest Charlie. While Shum only appeared briefly during Crazy Rich Asians‘ mid-credits scene, a sequel film was initially planned which focused on the couple’s love story.