‘Crazy Rich Asians’ is Not Doing Well in China

The Jon M. Chu-directed film opened with about $1.2 million earned during its opening window in Chinese theaters, according to Deadline.

 

Cinemas across the country also started to slash the number of screenings of “Crazy Rich Asians” dramatically per day. It opened on 37,000 theaters on Friday, but slashed down to 18,700 on Saturday, Variety reported.

Moviegoers were not exactly delighted with how the movie played out.

“The plot is passable, the quality of the production is also fine, but I still wanted to vomit a bit,” wrote one user from China’s major review platform, Douban. “So Chinese people in the eyes of Europeans and Americans are just about clans, extravagant snobbery, a blind sense of superiority, and stubbornly clinging to outdated rules and ideas?”

Another user, meanwhile, dismissed the movie the movie stating that “Crazy Rich Asians” only pandered to the issues of ethnic identity and inclusion in the United States without adding any depiction that will be recognizable for any Chinese mainlanders, according to Variety.

“Well, guess it keeps the Americans watching it happy,” the user added.

Weibo users also shared some negative opinions of the movie with one user, who goes by the handle of “Johnny,” writing: “Its English name is Crazy Rich Asians. Is Hollywood poking fun at us? If Chinese made a film called ‘Stupid Americans’ or ‘Crazy Westerners,’ it would be popular in China too.”

“Chinese family dynamics are not what is portrayed in the film. The family plot feels starchy,” a user with the name “movie buff” wrote on Weibo.

In North America, however, the movie managed to hit $174 million when it was released in August; the film earned about $5 million in Singapore for its screening. Overall, “Crazy Rich Asians” made about $237 million globally.

Featured image screenshot via YouTube/Variety