'Crazy Rich Asians' Author Kevin Kwan Snags Comedy Pilot Order at CBS
CBS has ordered three more comedy pilots, including one co-created by Kevin Kwan, the author of Crazy Rich Asians.
Kwan and David Sangalli are writing The Emperor of Malibu, a multicamera show about the son of a Chinese billionaire who gets engaged to an American woman. When his outrageous family gets wind of the engagement, they descend on the couple to win their son back and test-drive the American dream.
Lee and Sangalli — who are also working on a drama series for Amazon and STX Entertainment — will also executive produce the Warner Bros. TV pilot (the studio released the hit film Crazy Rich Asians and has greenlit a sequel). Michelle Nader (2 Broke Girls), Christina Lee (Search Party) and Danielle Stokdyk are also exec producers; Nader and Lee will be showrunners if the pilot goes to series.
Emperor of Malibu is the second network pilot to star Asian characters this pilot season; ABC also has a father-daughter show based on star and co-creator Hannah Simone's relationship with her Indian-American father.
Crazy Rich Asians opened at No. 1 at the box office in August and went on to gross $238.5 million worldwide against a budget of $30 million.
The other pilots are:
– Our House, a family comedy from writer Brendan O'Brien, Sony Pictures TV and CBS TV Studios. It follows a devoted mom and dad who are committed to raising their children with the love and support the mom never got — an effort complicated by her insane parents and siblings coming back into the picture. Nick Stoller and Conor Welch also executive produce.
– The Unicorn, from creators Bill Martin and Mike Schiff (Fam) and Ant-Man and the Wasp director Peyton Reed, who is executive producing. It's about a widower who is ready to move on from the toughest year of his life, only to realize he's unprepared to raise his two daughters on his own — and equally unprepared for the dating world where, to his shock, he's a hot commodity. Kapital Entertainment's Aaron Kaplan and Dana Honor and Wendi Trilling also executive produce the CBS Studios project.
