How Adele Lim Is The Heart Of ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ And Its Return

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 03: Adele Lim, CAPE Board Advisor, attends CAPE’s 35th Anniversary Gala at Vibiana on October 03, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Unique Nicole/Getty Images for CAPE)

Getty Images for CAPE

In 2018, Crazy Rich Asians started a movement for Asian representation in Hollywood, proving that a romantic comedy with an all-Asian cast could be a commercial and cultural success.

Based on Kevin Kwan’s bestselling novel and directed by Jon M. Chu, the film grossed $239 million worldwide with a $30 million budget and propelled multiple actors of Asian descent into the limelight, including Henry Golding, Constance Wu, Gemma Chan, Awkwafina, and more. The film was celebrated for its witty humor, bold storytelling, stunning set and costume designs, and cultural relevance, earning praise from film critics and audiences.

Now, the Crazy Rich Asians sequel is back, but this time as a television series for HBO Max. The film’s screenwriter Adele Lim returns to the project as showrunner and executive producer, with Chu as executive producer. Wu, Golding, Michelle Yeoh, and Ronny Chieng have been confirmed to return. Lim said in a press statement, “It’s a Crazy Rich family reunion! This series is the sequel we’ve been waiting for, but instead of just one movie, we get eight episodes to delve into the characters and worlds of Kevin Kwan’s brilliant books. Getting to work with the original creative team, with the support and vision of HBO and Warner Bros. Television, has been a dream. Our writers’ room is humming, and we can’t wait to share what we’ve come up with.”

It’s hard to believe this almost didn’t happen.

With the film’s success, there was a lot of pressure for a sequel, especially since Kwan continues the characters’ stories in his Crazy Rich Asians trilogy. It became obvious that the sequel would tie into the second novel, China Rich Girlfriend. Crazy Rich Asians ended with Rachel (Wu) and Nick (Golding) getting engaged, after receiving approval from Nick’s mother, Eleanor (Michelle Yeoh). In the mid-credits scene, Nick’s cousin Astrid (Chan), who had just left her philandering husband, runs into her former fiancé, Charlie (Harry Shum Jr.), leaving the door open for their love story (which blooms in Kwan’s second novel).

Everything seemed to fall into place, as everyone wanted to continue the story. As Warner Bros. prepared the financials, several issues popped up, delaying the initial sequel plans. In late 2018, co-screenwriter Adele Lim left the project after Warner Bros. offered her an estimated $110,000 to return, while her white male co-writer, Peter Chiarelli, was offered between $800,000 and $1 million. Color Force, the production company behind the film, spent months trying to find a replacement. In early 2019, the company offered Lim a new deal close to Chiarelli’s offer (with Chiarelli willing to split his fee), but she declined. By that time, Lim had signed a four-year deal with Walt Disney Animation to write and produce Raya and the Last Dragon, but was willing to work the sequel around those plans.

She told The Hollywood Reporter in 2019, “Pete has been nothing but incredibly gracious, but what I make shouldn’t be dependent on the generosity of the white-guy writer. If I couldn’t get pay equity after Crazy Rich Asians, I can’t imagine what it would be like for anyone else, given that the standard for how much you’re worth is having established quotes from previous movies, which women of color would never have been [hired for]. There’s no realistic way to achieve true equity that way.”

Lim received support from Chu and the film’s cast. Chu learned about the initial offer and tried to leap “into action to ensure” things would be fair, but by the time they finally settled, Lim had declined. He posted on X (formerly known as Twitter at the time): “You bet your ass I stand with Adele! I believed in her before we ever shot the movie and believe in her beyond.” He added, “These things happen in negotiations, and I’m proud that she was able to stand up to her own measure of worth and walk away; she felt like she was being undervalued.”

Chan, who has not been announced to return, also offered her support, tweeting: “I too stand with [Adele Lim] and fully support her, as I do every person fighting for pay equity. Pay disparity disproportionately affects women and POC, and there is still a long way to go — both in the conversation and in how to rectify it. We can and must do better, faster.”

After the pay disparity controversy, Chiarelli left the project in 2022, and Warner Bros. and Color Force hired Chinese-Australian writer Amy Wang to write the sequel. During this time, many of the creatives and cast became busy with new projects – not to mention the 2023 SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. Chu also became busy directing In the Heights and Wicked during this time. The Crazy Rich Asians sequel was delayed again. Wang provided a minor update at the 2025 SXSW premiere of her film, Slanted, revealing that, as far as she knew, it’s still happening.

Just when all hope felt lost, Chu announced an update on Crazy Rich Asians, but it wasn’t what many expected. Between his Wicked films in 2024, Chu revealed they’re working on a Broadway musical adaptation of the 2018 hit film. Leah Nanako Winkler will write the book, Helen Park the music, and Amanda Green & Tat Tong the lyrics. As of last December, it was in development for Broadway.

Chu revealed on Deadline’s Crew Call podcast after the musical announcement that he wasn’t sure when the film’s sequel would be happening. He tells them, “I want the best thing. I want it to be worthy of what Crazy Rich Asians 1 was. We’ve tried all different versions. It’s hard because people think the first movie is like the book, but it actually is not. It’s the right spirit, but the plotting is very different. And so, you can’t just go and translate. And we’ve tried versions, and the fact is that we just haven’t gotten there.”

Lim has been busy over the years as a writer, producer, and director. She co-founded her own production company, 100 Tigers Productions, in 2023 with producer Naia Cucukov. Lim then made her directorial debut in 2023 with Lionsgate’s Joy Ride. She was then announced in 2024 to direct The Princess Diaries 3 with Anna Hathaway reprising her role – set to be released later this year.

As Crazy Rich Asians was being discussed within the industry over the years, there was no official word on whether the story would continue, with rumors of a potential television series. Though behind the scenes, plans were always brewing to bring Lim back into the fold. It finally came to light when Deadline reported that Lim opened a development room for the series in February 2025. In April 2025, Golding seemingly confirmed to Deadline that Lim was back on board. With Lim back, the scripts began to move forward and finally move into development. Things began looking up when Chu confirmed it’s finally happening to Esquire at the end of 2025: “It’s a real thing. We have scripts, and we’re waiting to be officially ready to go. Our cast will be there. It’s hard to do the continuation of the books, because our characters changed so much in the first movie,” he says. “It’s so different [from] the books, actually, even though it feels like it’s the same. So you couldn’t go one-to-one. But we can use a lot of inspiration from the book to dig out more story from it.”

It became official yesterday with the announcement of Lim’s return to Crazy Rich Asians on HBO – just two days after the merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery officially closed.

With Lim at the helm via 100 Tigers, the pendulum began to set everything in motion. Channing Dungey, Chairman, Warner Bros. Television Group and US Networks, said in a statement, “From a bestselling novel to a blockbuster film and now television, Crazy Rich Asians has solidified its place as one of the most beloved stories in popular culture. Kevin Kwan created an irresistible world filled with the perfect blend of glitz, humor, and heart, and the talented Adele Lim returns to adapt this renowned tale for a new television audience. We are equally thrilled to welcome Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Ronny Chieng, and Michelle Yeoh back to reprise their iconic roles. We can’t wait to bring this series to life with our partners at HBO.”

Lim told Good Morning America this past May that the series will be a “true sequel to the movie.” She says, “All the characters and the actors that you love, ideally, will be coming back. We’re going to be pulling you back into the world that you loved in the movie and open up a new world.”

Executive produced by Lim, Kwan, Chu, and Color Force’s Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson, the series, which will have the same name, will consist of eight hour-long episodes and will debut sometime next year. Though it’s unknown whether Chu will return to direct any episodes (he has several projects in the works), he remains an executive producer and can now answer whether Crazy Rich Asians is coming back.

“Eight years ago, Crazy Rich Asians changed my life, and I got to make it with the most creative and hilarious group of people I’ve ever known,” he said. “Since then, this cast has become movie stars, superheroes, arena-filling performers, and even an Oscar^® winner, so bringing everyone back together feels like coming home. It’s been incredible watching audiences make this movie part of their lives, from mahjong nights to becoming the ultimate airplane movie, and I can’t wait to share what comes next. 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.”

Lim posted on Instagram about her excitement returning to the world of Crazy Rich Asians. She thanked the fans for their patience, love, and support, sharing, “It will be worth the wait.” She also credits the “aunties and uncles” who made it happen: Sarah Aubrey, Head of Original Planning at HBO Max; Joey Chavez, EVP of Drama at HBO Max; the team at HBO Max and Warner Bros.; and Jacobson and Simpson. Sharing behind-the-scenes photos from the original film, she posts, “Buckle up, we’re going to Singapore and beyond ;)”. She later shared the image of some of the writers joining her room: “We can’t WAIT to share the next Crazy Rich chapter with you!!!”

Thanks to Lim, Crazy Rich Asians is finally coming back to life. During the production of the first film, Lim lived and breathed the characters and story, focused on keeping everything as authentic and real as possible. As a veteran television writer, Lim understands the depth a story can reach through that medium. She also understands how much this story means to the community, which makes her the perfect person to lead it.

Production on the Crazy Rich Asians sequel series begins next year, picking up right where the movie ends. The expected release date is set for 2027.