‘Crazy Rich Asians’ best rom-com in US cinemas in 9 years
LOS ANGELES: ‘ Crazy Rich Asians’ has left much of America laughing out loud.
After raking in cash to the tune of US$ 117 million, it has become the highest- earning romantic comedy in nine years.
‘ Crazy Rich Asians’ boasts the top showing for a rom- com — an endangered genre, at least on the big screen — since Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds’ ‘The Proposal’ earned US$ 164 million in North America in 2009, not adjusted for inflation.
Jon M. Chu’s groundbreaking film achieved the milestone over Labor Day weekend. It has become the most successful Hollywood studio romantic comedy in nearly a decade at the North American box office after finishing the long Labor Day with an estimated total of US$ 117 million, besting the US$ 110.2 million earned in the US by Amy Schumer’s 2015 flick ‘Trainwreck’.
That doesn’t include the specialty film and Oscar- nominated ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ ( 2012), the David O. Russell- directed romantic comedy- drama that grossed US$132.1 million in North America. Harvey Weinstein’s indie film company, the nowdefunct Weinstein Co., released ‘Silver Linings’, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper.
Since its debut in mid-August, ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ has continued to defy the overall comedy slump gripping the US box office for the past several years.
The US$ 30 million movie, along with the shark pic ‘ The Meg’ and the Tom Cruise blockbuster ‘ Mission: Impossible — Fallout’, also aided in helping fuel a betterthanexpected August box office. The month was up nearly 30 per cent over a dismal August 2017.
Diverse films such as ‘Sorry to Bother You’, ‘The Meg’ and ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ have helped boost 2018 summer box office.
And over the Labor Day frame, ‘ Crazy Rich Asians’ eclipsed the 2017 summer box- office hit ‘ Girls Trip’ ( US$ 115.2 million) domestically to become the most successful live-action comedy in at least two years, regardless of genre.
Globally, ‘ Girls Trip’ earned US$ 140 million; ‘ Crazy Rich Asians’, which is still early in its foreign run, has grossed US$136.9 million to date at the worldwide box office.
‘ Crazy Rich Asians’ follows American Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) as she accompanies her long-time boyfriend Nick Young ( Henry Golding) to his best friend’s wedding in Singapore.
As Rachel visits Nick’s hometown for the first time, she quickly learns that her boyfriend is not only from one of the richest families in Asia, but also is one of its most eligible bachelors, putting a target on her back from jealous socialites as well as Nick’s formidable mother, Eleanor (Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh).
Awkwafina, Ken Jeong, Gemma Chan and Jimmy O. Yang also star.