‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Expected To Bring In $26 Million At This Weekend’s Box Office

August is shaping up to be a good month at the box office. Last weekend The Meg earned more than originally anticipated. Now Fandango is predicting that director Jon M. Chu’s new film, Crazy Rich Asians, will make at least $26 million in the first five days after its theater release on Wednesday, August 15. That is $20 million more than the original tracking done several weeks ago.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, some box-office watchers think Crazy Rich Asians might live up to its title and perform way above expectations. The rom-com will be the first movie in 25 years to feature an Asian cast that is all-Westernized. The last time such a movie hit box offices was The Joy Luck Club.

Rom-coms are a dicey market at the box office currently, with many of the films that are expected to be hits in the genre limping through their run with underwhelming numbers. Crazy Rich Asians seems to be off to a good start towards bucking that trend, with favorable reviews already coming in from critics and a rating of 98 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

Before "Crazy Rich Asians," the last time a major Hollywood film set in the present day showcased a majority Asian cast was a whopping 25 years ago https://t.co/OLGMvkScmE

— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 8, 2018

According to current Fandango numbers, Crazy Rich Asians is generating more advanced ticket sales than Girls Trip, another comedy that opened to the tune of $31.2 million last summer. Diversity might be one of the pulls that will help Crazy Rich Asians have a crazy rich box office run this year. Ninety-five percent of ticket purchasers surveyed by Fandango told the advanced ticket sales retailer that the film’s cast was one of the major reasons they wanted to see the movie in theaters.

The film stars Constance Wu, Henry Golding, and Michelle Yeoh. They are joined by Awkwafina, Ken Jeong, Gemma Chan, and Jimmy O. Yang as supporting cast who help tell the story of Rachel Chu (played by Wu), an American who finds out that her boyfriend, Nick (Golding), is from one of the richest families in Asia. Rachel must face possible competition from other women who consider Nick an extremely eligible bachelor, and the ire of potential mother-in-law Eleanor (played by Yeoh.) The movie is an adaptation of Kevin Kwan’s best-selling novel of the same name, which was published in 2013.

On Friday, two potential rivals for Crazy Rich Asians will make their box office debut. Mile 22 stars Mark Wahlberg and is currently charted to make at least $18 million on opening weekend. Studio 8’s Alpha starring Kodi Smith-McPhee will also tempt audiences with pre-historic adventure and drama.