Draws immigrant parents to the movies

LOS ANGELES — When Crazy Rich Asians surpassed expectations and grabbed the top spot at the box office in its opening weekend, the film also pulled off another surprising feat: It put Asians of a certain age in theater seats.

Younger Asian-Americans have been flocking with their parents to see the first movie in 25 years with an all-Asian cast.

Warner Bros’ Asian-centric film Crazy Rich Asians continued to lead the North American weekend box office takings with an estimated $25 million for a second weekend in a row.

It’s startling that the film’s second weekend box office revenue dropped only around 6 percent compared to its opening weekend, one of the smallest drops ever in North America. The romantic comedy-drama film, based on Kevin Kwan’s novel of the same name, has brought in a total of $76.81 million through Sunday since its Aug 15 release, according to studio figures collected by comScore. The film already has a sequel in development.

For many older, first-generation Asian immigrants, going to the movies doesn’t rank high among their hobbies and interests. The crowds, the language barrier and ticket prices are often turnoffs. Paul Dergarabedian,

But the appeal of Crazy Rich Asians, the story of a culture clash that erupts when an Asian-American woman from New York meets her boyfriend’s family in Singapore, has bridged a real-life generation gap.

The rom-com is poised to hit the $100 million mark due to its popularity and a lack of strong competition in the coming month, comScore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian says.

“The over-performance of Crazy Rich Asians shows the power of a great movie with universal themes to draw all audiences and also to break down preconceived notions of what can constitute a box office hit,” Dergarabedian says.

Broken down by ethnicity, Asians made up nearly 40 percent of the film’s audience during its opening weekend, according to Warner Bros.

In Temple City, California, Catherine Fanchiang, 27, who is TaiwaneseAmerican, went to see the film for a third time to keep her parents company.

Fanchiang’s mother, Kao Han Fan, also wanted to see the movie because she recognized Michelle Yeoh, who plays a wary matriarch. But it was Wu’s character who touched the 64-year-old the most. Fan said she liked how the story depicted an “ABC” (American-born Chinese), who showed Asian cultural values such as putting family first.

Fanchiang enjoyed watching her parents see an American film with Asians that wasn’t a period piece.

“It was just a regular movie that just happens to have Asian people in it. It’s not like we’re ninjas or we’re good at fighting. It’s Asians existing in the modern world,” Fanchiang says.

The stars and director Jon M. Chu have said they wanted the film to showcase Asians who weren’t stereotypes or little-used side-players.

The over-performance of shows the power of a great movie with universal themes to draw all audiences ...” media analyst comScore senior