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‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Buzz Sends Its Box-Office Forecasts Soaring

“Crazy Rich Asians” and its groundbreaking all-Asian cast has hit American theaters. And the forecasts are towering.

‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Buzz Sends Its Box-Office Forecasts Soaring
The lead cast of ‘Crazy Rich Asians’. (Source: Crazy Rich Asians Official Page/Instagram)(

(Bloomberg) -- With the growing buzz surrounding “Crazy Rich Asians” and its groundbreaking all-Asian cast, the film is poised to generate nearly twice as much box-office revenue as initially expected.

Warner Bros., which is releasing the movie Wednesday, increased its five-day projection to $26 million, up from an estimate $18 million last month. And some independent forecasters are even more bullish. Box Office Mojo now expects the movie to take in $35 million through its first weekend in theaters.

It’s not uncommon for movies with minority casts to exceed early expectations. Last year’s “Girls Trip,” a movie with a female, African-American ensemble, generated about 50 percent more in its debut than predicted. This year’s “Black Panther” and 2017’s “Get Out,” which feature African-Americans in leading roles, also were bigger hits than initially projected.

With “Crazy Rich Asians,” the hope is that a successful film about Asians and Asian-Americans will open the door to more such movies. Online ticket seller Fandango says that advance ticket sales are already outpacing those of “Girls Trip,” which opened to $31 million last summer. They’re also among the best results for a comedy release all summer, the company said.

Still, sales can be hard to predict. Just this weekend, prehistoric-shark thriller “The Meg” did better than expected, unseating the latest “Mission: Impossible” film from its No. 1 perch at the box office.

There has been a tendency by studios and box-office analysts to underestimate the draw of women and minorities appearing in movies. And that can affect decisions earlier in the process. Filmmakers often determine whether to greenlight a movie -- or give it a big budget -- based on the forecasts.

“Crazy Rich Asians” is being released almost exactly 25 years after “The Joy Luck Club,” the last Hollywood film built around an all-Asian cast. Despite lacking representation in Hollywood, Asians tend to see more movies than average U.S. moviegoers, according to the Motion Picture Association of America.

To contact the reporter on this story: Anousha Sakoui in Los Angeles at asakoui@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, Rob Golum

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.