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EXCLUSIVE: While we await the inevitable word that Crazy Rich Asians will hatch a sequel, the impact of the weekend success of the romantic comedy with an all Asian cast is already being felt. That movie catching the zeitgeist has emboldened Hollywood to look for more stories to tell from Asian cultures that have long been underrepresented on movie screens.
New Line on Friday acquired the Lillian Yu spec script Singles Day, a Chinese-themed romantic comedy. It centers around an actual long-held Chinese holiday that falls on November 11 (its 11.11 digits signify being alone) in which celebrants take pride in being unattached. It is considered the anti-Valentines Day and is embraced by young people. It is a huge celebration in China, where e-commerce giant Alibaba last fall reported record Singles Day shopping sales splurges that reached $25 billion. While romantic comedies have had a tough time in Hollywood, they are a hot commodity in China.
The idea is to generate a film in the vein of culturally diverse New Line ensemble romantic comedies that have included Hes Just Not That Into You, Valentines Day, and New Years Eve. Chris Bender and Jake Weiner are producing Singles Day for Good Fear.
Born in China, Yu moved to America in her teens and graduated from Harvard. She worked as a staff writer on the NBC/WB TV series Powerless and recently worked in the writers room on the forthcoming TV series Warrior, with Justin Lin producing and Jonathan Tropper the showrunner.
Yu is represented by UTA, Management 360 and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller.
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