Director Jon M. Chu and author Kevin Kwan on 'Crazy Rich Asians'

Near the beginning of the new movie ‘Crazy Rich Asians,’ handsome Nick Young, played by Henry Golding, asks his Chinese-American girlfriend Rachel Chu, played by Constance Wu, to take a trip with him from New York to his home country of Singapore.

Soon they’re on a plane, and much to Rachel’s surprise, they’re flying first class and they’re treated like royalty. She gets Nick to admit his family has money, but she doesn’t realize how much money until her college roommate Peik Lin, played by Awkwafina, lays it out for her. Turns out the Young family were some of the original land developers in Singapore. They’ve got an empire to protect, and Nick’s mother Eleanore, played by Michelle Yeoh, has a very specific idea of the type of girl Nick should marry, and Rachel is not it.

‘Crazy Rich Asians’ is based on the 2013 novel of the same name, written by Kevin Kwan. Both Kwan and director Jon M. Chu took the comedy very seriously because ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ is the first American studio film in many years to feature an entirely Asian cast. Kwan and Chu joined us in the studio, just hours before their big red carpet premiere.

They told us why it was so important to them for their movie to play in theaters-- even though Netflix offered tons of money and a trilogy--and about the worldwide search for a cast that involved some Facebook friending and Instagram stalking.