Asians turned up en masse to support “Crazy Rich Asians,” helping to push the film to the top of the North American box office this past weekend.
The Jon M. Chu-directed rom-com by Warner Bros. raked in an estimated $26.5 million over the weekend and $35.3 million during its first five days. The film had a budget of $30 million.
It’s the best debut for a comedy this year, and the first romantic comedy to top the weekend box office in more than three years.
Read: ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ posts best box-office debut for a rom-com in 3 years
Much of the film’s success came from Asian support, according to demographic information from Warner Bros., which is owned by AT&T T, +0.39% Asians usually make up just 6% of moviegoers, according the Motion Picture Association of America, but they made up almost 40% of the “Crazy Rich Asians” audiences this past weekend. Forty-one percent of “Crazy Rich Asians” movie-goers were white, 38% were Asian, 11% were Hispanic, 6% were African American, and 4% were classified as “other.”
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the movie did best in Asian-heavy markets, such as Los Angeles, the Bay Area in Northern California and New York City, where there are more Asian Americans than any other part of the country, according to U.S. Census data.
Warner Bros. president of worldwide marketing Blair Rich told The Hollywood Reporter the first priority in selling the movie was to woo Asian Americans. Her team worked with several organizations to do this, including the Asia Society and the Coalition of Asia Pacifics in Entertainment, she told the outlet.
“You have to give them ownership of their story, and then broaden it out from there. Representation of one culture is a win for all cultures,” she said.
“Crazy Rich Asians” has an “A” CinemaScore and is currently sitting with an impressive 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Viewers skewed heavily female; 68% were female and 32% were male, according to Warner Bros.
The movie is based on Kevin Kwan’s novel of the same name and follows Chinese-American economics professor Rachel Chu (played by Constance Wu) as she accompanies her boyfriend Nicholas Young (played by Henry Golding) to his best friend’s wedding in Singapore. There, she finds out that he’s from one of the island’s wealthiest families.
“Crazy Rich Asians“ is the first Hollywood studio movie in many years with a majority-Asian cast. Many have called it a watershed moment for Asian representation in the film industry.
Michelle Yeoh, who plays Young’s mother in the film, said during a TimesTalks screening last week that she hopes the movie will open the door to more opportunities for diverse storytelling in Hollywood.
Also read: ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ actors hope film’s success will open more doors for Asian Americans
“I hope this isn’t just going to be a trickle,” she said. “This will be a stream that leads into a tsunami of what needs to be represented in the right way.”
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