‘Crazy Rich Asians 2’ sets writer Amy Wang to replace Adele Lim, Peter Chiarelli following pay controversy

Chinese Australian writer Amy Wang will pen the highly-anticipated sequel to Jon M. Chu’s “Crazy Rich Asians,” replacing Adele Lim and Peter Chiarelli.

The news, first reported by Deadline, comes nearly two weeks after cast member Henry Golding told E News that Chu and his team have been “trying to figure out the writing.”

Reports of Lim’s exit broke out a year after the original film’s 2018 release. Sources claimed that she was offered a starting salary of $110,000 for the pair of sequels, while Chiarelli, in contrast, was invited to write for up to $1 million. The stark pay difference was attributed to their respective experiences, as Chiarelli had worked on several feature projects, with Lim’s previous credits having primarily come from television.

“Being evaluated that way can’t help but make you feel that is how they view my contributions,” Lim then told The Hollywood Reporter. Chiarelli reportedly volunteered to split his pay later, but Lim declined, saying “what I make shouldn’t be dependent on the generosity of the white-guy writer.”

Chu at the time stepped up to support Lim, saying he “leapt into action” along with producers and studio executives to “ensure we got to a place of parity between the two writers at a significant number.” He also said he would work with Lim again in the future.

It’s unclear when Chiarelli exited from the upcoming project, but as per Deadline, Warner Bros. and Color Force have only set Wang to replace the pair.

Wang is attached to Brad Falchuk and Byron Wu’s “Brothers Sun,” a gangster drama, for Netflix. She has also worked on “From Scratch,” a limited series starring Zoe Saldana for the same platform.

As a director, Wang has also worked on episodes of Starz’s “Blindspotting,” Facebook’s “The Birch” and the 2018 short “Unnatural,” which landed her a Cannes Lion award. She is currently directing and writing a horror film from Paramount Players and QC Entertainment.

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