‘Crazy Rich Asians’ author and exec producer Kevin Kwan

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• Business Insider spoke to “Crazy Rich Asians” author
  and executive producer Kevin Kwan about the film’s historical
  significance, the rom-com comeback, and how his book series can
  become a movie franchise.
• Kwan also told us why he chose someone else to write
  the screenplay.
• The book “Crazy Rich Asians” came out in 2013 and was a
  best-seller. 
• The film, which comes out August 15, stars Constance Wu
  and Henry Golding. 

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With a
100% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, “Crazy Rich Asians” is
on its way to an epic opening when it comes out August 15.

But it was a long time coming. The last big movie that told a
story about Asian Americans, “The Joy Luck Club,” came to
theaters in 1993. 25 years later, “Crazy Rich Asians,” which is
based on the 2013 novel by Kevin Kwan, is the first ever
all-Asian romantic comedy made by a major studio.

Kwan is from Singapore, where the film takes place, and said that
everything described in his books — including a
fish getting cosmetic surgery — is
completely real. Business Insider spoke to Kwan about the
pressures of this historic achievement, how his book series can
become multiple films, and his love for the romantic comedy.

Carrie Wittmer: What was it like to see the movie for the
first time?

Kevin Kwan: The first time I saw
the movie they did a private screening just for me, and I was
blown away. I sat there in a darkened room by myself and was just
in absolute awe of what [director] Jon Chu achieved. It was
amazing, and it’s been this five-year-long adventure. It’s been
climbing Everest to get this movie made, in a good way. Because
we really, really wanted to take our time and get it done
right. 
We knew how
important this was becoming so we wanted everything to fall into
place perfectly, from finding the best director, to finding the
amazing cast that we’ve assembled, to filming on location in
Singapore and Hong Kong and Malaysia. We waited five extra months
so that Constance Wu could be in the film.

Wittmer: Right, because she had to film “Fresh Off the
Boat.” It was worth the wait. She’s stunning.

Kwan: It was all just a Herculean
effort to make this happen, and I’m so glad we did. We took our
time and you see the results on the screen. It’s a fabulous,
fabulous movie, which I really think will be an enduring
classic.

Wittmer: I think so too. With this movie and “Set it Up”
on Netflix, I just hope rom-coms come back in a really dramatic
way.

Kwan: I hope so, because
that’s my favorite genre. I love romantic comedies more than
anything. It’s been funny because I keep going back to watch all
the classics that I love because they haven’t been on the big
screen anymore. From “Pretty Woman,” to “Four Weddings and a
Funeral,” films like that … “Love Actually.” That’s my
favorite genre, so I’m hoping we’ve created a movie that people
want to see over and over again and will be timeless.

Wittmer: It appears like you were super involved in this
entire process. So what were you involved with and what was out
of your control?

Kwan: I was involved in
everything from day one as an executive producer. Part of the
deal was that I got to have a vote. I got to be part of the round
table that made every creative decision. So there were really no
surprises for me. I got to help look for the screenwriter, all
the actors, the director, and then once we went into production,
I got even more involved.

Wittmer: How so?

Kwan: I was basically texting and
calling and speaking to John Chu, the director, every day. I was
dealing directly with the fashion costume designers. I was
talking to fashion schools. I was getting them to lend stuff for
the movie. I was really up to my eyeballs involved in the film in
a way that I think no author ever has. 

Wittmer: Every description in your novel is reflected so
well in the movie — even scenes where they’re eating. Just the
costumes and the sets really represent all of your descriptions
in the book. It’s amazing.

Kwan: We wanted it to be like
food porn and fashion porn and décor porn, you know what I
mean?

Wittmer: Absolutely.

Kwan: We just wanted it to be so
luscious in every possible way that people would want to come
back and see again and again and again. If people start
Pinteresting scenes of the fashion and the décor, that to me is
success.

Wittmer: Was there anything that was cut from the book
that you kind of wish was in the movie?

Kwan: I mean, so much. My book
was over 500 pages long, and there were so many characters, so
many plot lines that we really had to leave out because we’re
really focused on, “How can we take this book which is kind of
esoteric, and really make it a movie that is going to be enjoyed
by the most amount of people around the
world?” 
So we had to
streamline the story, really simplify a lot of the plot lines.
But I think it really still captures the essence of my book, and
hopefully if the movie is successful, we can make more films.
Who’s to say we can’t do three films out of just book one before
we even get to book two? There’s so many storylines that are
worth exploring. I think Warner Bros. is so excited to
really  — if it works — keep going into the world of “Crazy
Rich Asians” by doing more and more films.

Wittmer: You made a huge decision to not go with Netflix
despite a huge offer. Why did you go with Warner Bros.?

Kwan: Out of all the film studios
— traditional film studios — they were the most excited to make
this movie. Warner Bros. is just this amazing historic studio
that does great films. So that was a no-brainer. The essential
thing we were struggling with was we wanted this movie to be able
to prove to the industry that films with independent stories,
diverse stories, new voices, new faces can
succeed. 
With
Netflix, you don’t know really what is a true success because,
unfortunately, we’re still working in an entertainment industry
where success is measured by box offices. How Netflix measures
success is totally different. Their metrics and their numbers are
kept very proprietary and very secret. So they couldn’t tell us.
How can they put a stamp on this and say, “This is a success,” in
a way that having a movie come out in wide release in a theater
that has proven box office numbers shows the world that this can
work? You know?

Wittmer: Yeah, makes sense. Netflix is really shady about
their numbers. 

Kwan: And also, I think it was
essential for both Jon and I to really see this movie as a
community experience. We see families going, generations of
families going, grandparents, parents, children. This is a movie
to enjoy at the theater with your friends, with your loved ones,
with your boyfriend or girlfriend, with a whole group of
girls. 
That’s kind of
how Jon and I grew up enjoying the films. We went to the
theater. We didn’t just sit on our couch and click a button and
wait for a movie to come on. We love doing that, don’t get me
wrong. I love Netflix and Amazon and watching films on streamers
as much as the next person. But you know, for this movie, we felt
it was important to start it out in the theater and give it a
chance in the cinema.

Wittmer: Especially because it’s the first movie that
tells an Asian American story with all Asian actors, I think,
since 1993.

Kwan: 25 years. Yeah, totally.
It’s also the first Hollywood studio rom-com ever to have Asian
leads.

Wittmer: Wow.

Kwan: Ever. That, to me,
is even huger of a breakthrough.

Wittmer: Did that historical significance make you feel a
little nervous about getting it right?

Kwan: Absolutely. Yeah. When I
realized that this movie had the potential of actually being
made, I decided to step aside. I didn’t want to adapt the
screenplay because I knew we needed the best damn screenwriter
possible to adapt this. We needed to create the best team
possible in every sense of the word to make this movie come
alive. And we did, we achieved that.

Wittmer: And it shows. I could tell how hard everyone
worked on this movie, and how happy they were doing it.

Kwan: We had an incredible
director, Jon Chu. We had an incredible cast. We got the best
cinematographer we could possibly find. This is a watershed
moment, especially for my readers. There’s a whole generation of
my readers who did not grow up reading “Joy Luck Club” like I did
when I was a teenager. So for them, this is their “Joy Luck
Club.” This is their moment to see themselves reflected back in a
modern, contemporary, real way. For them, it’s so important that
we got it right.

Wittmer: Does the box office success of films like,
“Wonder Woman,” “Get Out,” and “Black Panther ” make you feel
confident “Crazy Rich Asians” will be a hit, too?

Kwan: Knock on wood.

Wittmer: I just knocked the coffee table right in front
of me. I promise it’s wood. 

Kwan: Thank you. 

Wittmer: Obviously those films I mentioned aren’t
comparable in content, but I know “Wonder Woman” really surprised
the industry because, wow, a movie with a female lead did super
well! And similarly with “Black Panther.” Do you think that
“Crazy Rich Asians” can mark a cultural shift for Asian
stories?

Kwan: I really hope so. I really,
really hope so. And I think the proof is the movie. I mean, when
you see that, you see it’s possible, right?

Wittmer: Absolutely. 

Kwan: You see the vast potential
of all these amazing actors in other roles that don’t have to be
about just being Asian. I think that’s what’s so liberating about
this movie. It was a full Asian cast so they didn’t have to be
that Asian actor doing their Asian thing. They could just be
great actors telling a great story, being part of a great
project. And so that’s my hope, is that this movie transcends
race. You know? 
I
want people to forget that this is a historic movie with an
all-Asian cast. I just want them to get into the story and get
into the movie and realize that this is, no matter what color
skin these actors have, amazing. 

Wittmer: I certainly got that feeling. I’m a not-rich
straight white lady, but I’m still relating deeply on an
emotional level with Rachel and all of these different
characters, even Astrid. Even Nick in some ways.

Kwan: Absolutely. Asian Americans
and Asians all over the world — since the history of the
beginning of cinema — they have looked to Hollywood. They’ve
fallen in love through “Casablanca.” They’ve fallen in love
through the “Sound of Music,” to all of the great films and they
don’t think, oh, I can be just … it’s automatic for them. They
don’t think, oh, I can relate to this. They do relate to
it. Now it’s going the other way around.
It’s long overdue.

Wittmer: I know you’ve talked about how there are some
things that were left out of the book because they were too
crazy. Is there an example of something like that?

Kwan: A lot of times it was
descriptions of houses and places that just were so decadent they
were beyond belief. In the first book, I had to leave a lot of
things out because my editor thought it would jump the shark.
People wouldn’t believe it was possible. But once the books
worked, then people wanted more of it. 
That’s when I could finally come out and
write about the fish that went for plastic surgery because it’s
all true. But when you’re first introducing someone to that
world, and they’ve never heard of it, you’ve got to prime them
for it. You’ve got to prepare them for it. Book one did well so I
could go even more extreme in book two with all real stories.
There’s nothing in any of my books that’s made up. It’s all based
on true people, true stories, true worlds, places I’ve seen,
planes with yoga studios in them, things like that.