‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Is Number One at the Box Office & Twitter Is All for It

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Crazy Rich Asians, a romantic comedy by director Jon M. Chu, raked in $25.2 million at North American theaters over the weekend, making it number one at the box office. As The New York Times points out, these are the highest numbers for a PG-13 romantic comedy in six years, since Think Like a Man — which featured an all-black primary cast — amassed $33 million during its first three days in theaters.

“This shows — once again, with emphasis — that true diversity matters,” Crazy Rich Asians producer Brad Simpson wrote in an email over the weekend. “Audiences are tired of seeing the same stories with the same characters. And we have to give people a reason to get off their couch or devices. We have to give them something different.”

Crazy Rich Asians is the first Hollywood studio movie in 25 years to boast an all-Asian cast. The film stars Constance Wu and Henry Golding in a complicated love story fueled by wealth and unruly parents.

According to Jeff Goldstein, Warner’s president of domestic distribution, roughly 38 percent of those who went to see Crazy Rich Asians were Asian, while approximately 68 percent of viewers were female. The Times also informs that Asian moviegoers generally account for less than 10 percent of the opening weekend audience.

And while Crazy Rich Asians reached box office number one, The Meg came in second over the weekend with $21.2 million, and Mile 22 third with $13.6 million.

Twitter has noticeably gravitated to Crazy Rich Asians, the most tweeted-about movie so far in August, as there have been more than 781,000 Tweets about the film since July 1, and 350,000 over the weekend alone. Below you can see the most retweeted tweets surrounding the picture, as well as some additional posts that have gained traction on the social media platform.

In other film-related news, Kevin Spacey’s new movie made a paltry $126 on opening day.

Words by Jonathan Sawyer
Staff Writer

Not NYC, not LA.