Chinese-Australian writer Amy Wang has been hired by Warner Bros and Color Force to write Crazy Rich Asians 2 , replacing the co-writers of the first instalment following a pay parity controversy.
Wang, a story editor on Netflix’s Brothers Sun, is the sole credited writer on the sequel, which is being directed by Jon M Chu and stars original castmembers Henry Golding and Constance Wu.
Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim wrote the first Crazy Rich Asians movie. However, Lim exited negotiations to return for the sequel in 2019, after it was revealed that Chiarelli was allegedly going to be paid almost 10 times more than her.
Deadline reported that Warner Bros’ excuse for the pay disparity was that Chiarelli had more experience penning feature films includingThe Proposal and Now You See Me 2, while Lim was predominantly known as a TV writer.
Director Chu posted a lengthy statement on Twitter at the time supporting Lim’s decision to leave the franchise.
“I’m proud that she was able to stand up for her own measure of worth and walk away when she felt like she was being undervalued,” he said.
Upon leaving, Lim told The Hollywood Reporter that women and people of colour were often treated as “soy sauce” in the film industry, hired to add cultural flavour without being credited fairly for their contributions.
“Being evaluated that way can’t help but make you feel that is how they view my contributions,” she said.
Golding recently told E! News that the sequel was in the works and that he “can’t wait to get back to Singapore” to film.
“I always bug [Chu] about it, and he tells him the same thing every time: they’re trying to figure out the writing,” Golding said. “I know they’re working on it, but hopefully sooner than later.”
