Indeed, the Crazy Rich Asians star shared an honest update on the status of the long-awaited sequel to the 2018 romantic comedy, in which she played stylish socialite Astrid Leong.

"I wish I had some juicy info," she admitted in an exclusive interview with E! News' Erin Lim Rhodes at The Five Star Weekend premiere July 8. "I'm the last person to find out."

"There's so much to live up to," Chan continued. "It's been a while now, so everything has to be as good as [the first film], if not better."

But the 43-year-old isn't giving up hope that she'll be able to step into Astrid's designer shoes once again.

After all, she expressed, "I'm hopeful that things are going to align."

As for what she'd like to see for her character in a future film? 

"I want to see what happens with her and Charlie," Chan shared, referring to Harry Shum Jr.'s character Charlie Wu, whose potential romance with Astrid was teased in the film's mid-credits scene. "I want to see her come into her own."

In the years since Crazy Rich Asians was released, both fans and the stars alike have been expressing their desire for a sequel.

Yet, the potential second installment in the franchise—based on the adaptation of Kevin Kwan's bestselling book trilogy—has been met with a series of challenges, resulting in a years-long delay. 

One issue was who would write the script. There was reportedly a screenwriter change after original writer Adele Lim allegedly left the film over a purported pay disparity between her and co-writer Peter Chiarelli. 

The actors' busy schedules also appeared to contribute to the holdup. After all, Crazy Rich Asians catapulted multiple stars into stardom, including Wu, Chan, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, Awkwafina and Constance Wu.

And according to Chu—who also directed Wicked—the cast's schedules being aligned is top priority. 

"I won’t bring everyone back unless it’s worth it," Chu shared on a November 2024 episode of Deadline's Crew Call podcast. "There’s too much on the line for everybody."

But last year, the filmmaker confirmed that Crazy Rich Asians 2 was still in development.

"We’re working on it," Chu told Entertainment Tonight in April 2025. "But we’re working on a Max show as well with some of the other stories as it goes along. I won’t say too much, but there are things that are moving."

Indeed, other Crazy Rich Asians projects are in the works, including a Broadway musical adaptation of the movie and an HBO television series, which was announced last year.

For everything we know about the movie sequel, read on...

What Has Caused the Delay of a Crazy Rich Asians Sequel?

Word of Jon M. Chu returning to direct Crazy Rich Asians 2 first spread in 2018 after the success of the first film. But as time went on, there were reports of a writer change.

In 2019, Chu spoke out after The Hollywood Reporter published an article stating Adele Lim left the sequel over an alleged pay disparity between her and co-writer Peter Chiarelli.

"Because I am close with Adele, when I discovered she was unhappy with the initial offer, the producers, myself, and the studio executives leapt into action to ensure we got to a place of parity between the two writers at a significant number," he wrote on social media, per a screenshot shared by Deadline. "It was both educational and powerful to hear all facets of the debate. Unfortunately, by the time we came up with several different ways to satisfy everyone's needs, a lot of time had passed and she declined the offer."

Chu added he was proud of Lim for being "able to stand up for her own measure of worth and walk away when she felt like she was being undervalued."

Schedules have also led to the wait. Chu, for instance, went on to direct In the Heights and Wicked, and Michelle Yeoh starred in Everything Everywhere All at Once.

"The amazing great thing is that everyone got so busy," author Kevin Kwan told GMA in 2024. "It blew up the careers of Jon Chu and all the actors. Michelle won an Oscar. So they have to do a few amazing victory laps. But I think now everyone's ready to get back and make Crazy Rich Asians 2."

There was also the matter of the script. "I won’t bring everyone back unless it’s worth it," Chu said on a November 2024 episode of Deadline's Crew Call podcast. "There’s too much on the line for everybody."

And he wants the sequel to be at the same level as the first film.

"I want the best thing," the filmmaker added. "I want it to be worthy of what Crazy Rich Asians 1 was."  

Yeoh understands this pressure. "I think sometimes it’s hard when you’ve got such a big success, and you say, 'How do I better it?'" she said at Kering Group's 2023 Women in Motion Talk captured by Variety. "And that’s the biggest chip on the shoulder: 'Do I make it better, bigger, this, that?’ I think they are trying to find the right story. But Kevin Kwan is endless with his stories, so we will see other things."

And Harry Shum Jr. agrees taking the time to nail down the story is the best approach: "You know when you make a sequel, sometimes it's so sped up and you do it so quickly and you don't get the story right," he told E! News at the 2023 Oscars. "So, they're just really trying to get it right so they can give the fans what they want."

What Is the 2nd Novel in the Crazy Rich Asians Book Trilogy About?

Titled China Rich Girlfriend, the book is set before the wedding of Rachel Chu and Nick Young (played by Constance Wu and Henry Golding in the movie). However, she isn't in bridal bliss."Rachel still mourns the fact that her birth father, a man she never knew, won't be able to walk her down the aisle," the description on author Kevin Kwan's website reads. "Until: a shocking revelation draws Rachel into a world of Shanghai splendor beyond anything she has ever imagined. Here we meet Carlton, a Ferrari-crashing bad boy known for Prince Harry-like antics; Colette, a celebrity girlfriend chased by fevered paparazzi; and the man Rachel has spent her entire life waiting to meet: her father."

The sequel brings back characters from the first book, including Nick's mother Eleanor Young (Yeoh), Goh Peik Lin (Awkwafina), Astrid Teo (Gemma Chan) and Charlie Wu (Shum).

At one point, there were rumors the film sequel would combine the second book with the third, Rich People Problems. But as Chu previously noted, they didn't follow the storyline of the first novel to a tee.

"We've tried all different versions," he said on Crew Call. "It's hard because people think the first movie's like the book, but it actually is not. It's the right spirit, but the plotting is very different. And so you can't just go and translate. And we've tried versions, and the fact is that we just haven't gotten there."

In February 2025, news broke that HBO Max is developing a TV adaptation of Crazy Rich Asians, with Lim serving as showrunner and her, Chu and Kwan fulfilling the roles of executive producers.

However, citing sources close to production, Deadline reported the show will not replace the second movie.

"We’re working on it," Chu told Entertainment Tonight in April 2025 when asked about the sequel. “But we’re working on a Max show as well with some of the other stories as it goes along. I won’t say too much, but there are things that are moving."

As for the thought process behind taking Crazy Rich Asians to the TV screen?

"We needed more real estate. That was the reality," Chu told The Hollywood Reporter in March 2025. “We developed the movie over and over and over again, and we’re still working on a version of something that I won’t talk about now.”

He added, “I don’t know if it’s in lieu of a sequel. Every character we wanted to explore needed more room, and a movie just wasn’t doing it for us. And we got to bring Adele back into the fold."

While nothing has been confirmed in terms of the casting for the TV series, it seems like there have already been conversations about who'd come back.

"Everyone’s excited," Golding told Today in April. "I was with Nora, Awkwafina, who’s a fellow New Yorker, the other night and we were discussing. We had Adele Lim come over. She visited me and Gemma in London not too long ago to discuss where we’re heading. But we have a larger, longer run format. We’re doing a series, so we have so much more runway to really share the world that you kind of had a glimpse of in Crazy Rich. But we’re really excited to show more."

What Has the Cast of Crazy Rich Asians Said About Doing a 2nd Movie?

If another Crazy Rich Asians movie were to happen, a lot of the stars would be totally down to return to their characters.

"I don’t know anything," Wu said on a 2021 episode of the Tamron Hall Show. "I know that I’ll be there when it happens. For me, I like to really focus on my job, which is acting. I haven’t seen a script yet. I know that they’re working on one. I know that I will be super excited to go back if and when it happens."

But for now, it looks like fans and the cast will just have to stay tuned. "I haven’t got that fax yet,” Awkwafina told E! in August 2024 when asked about the possibility of filming. "I would love to hear news about it."