‘Crazy Rich Asians’ draws immigrant parents to the movies
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.
For many older, first-generation Asian immigrants, going to the movies doesn’t rank high among hobbies and interests. The crowds, the language barrier and ticket prices are often turnoffs.
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.
Earning more than $40 million since its Aug. 15 release, the film already has a sequel in development.
An adaptation of Kevin Kwan’s bestselling novel, the rom-com is poised to hit the $100 million mark due to its popularity and a lack of strong competition in the next month, comScore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian said.
“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 said.
Broken down by ethnicity, Asians made up nearly 40 percent of the film’s audience during its opening weekend, Warner Bros said. By comparison, Asian/Pacific Islanders comprised just 10 percent of the audience in the opening days of last year’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” according to an analysis done by comScore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak.
The jump can be partly credited to enthusiastic Asian-Americans who wanted their parents to be part of what the film’s star, Constance Wu, has called a “movement.”
Lie Shia Ong-Sintzel, 36, of Seattle talked her parents into coming along the second time she saw the movie. It was the first time in five years the couple — Chinese immigrants from Indonesia — had been to the cinema.
“They don’t really go to movies in the theater. I usually have to drag them,” Ong-Sintzel said. “I felt like this was a big occasion — a movie with an all-Asian cast.”
Looking at her parents, she cried because everything from the acting to the food seemed to resonate more. She wasn’t the only one.
“I looked over again, my dad was wiping tears from his eyes,” Ong-Sintzel said.
In Temple City, California, Catherine Fanchiang, 27, who is Taiwanese-American, went to see the film 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-yearold the most. Fan said she liked how the story depicted an “ABC,” (Americanborn Chinese) who showed Asian cultural values such as putting family first.