A day after ABC canceled his sitcom Dr. Ken, star Ken Jeong has found a new gig.
The Hangover actor is joining the Jon M. Chu adaptation of Kevin Kwan’s New York Times best-selling novel, Crazy Rich Asians. The feature boasts an all-Asian cast that will be led by Constance Wu and newcomer Henry Golding, and also includes Gemma Chan, Michelle Yeoh and Awkwafina.
Crazy Rich Asians follows Rachel Chu (Wu), an America-born Chinese economics professor, who travels to her history professor boyfriend Nick’s (Golding) hometown of Singapore for his best friend’s wedding. What Rachel soon finds out is that Nick comes from an incredibly wealthy family and is the most eligible bachelor in Asia, meaning every single woman in his ultra-rarefied social circle now wants to bring Rachel down.
Color Force’s Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson, as well as Ivanhoe president John Penotti, are producing. Kevin Kwan will serve as executive producer along with Ivanhoe chairman Robert Friedland. Courtenay Valenti and Jon Gonda will oversee the project for Warner Bros.
The movie is set to film entirely on location in Singapore and Malaysia.
Jeong is known for his role as a bombastic Spanish professor in Dan Harmon’s Community. His last feature film role was in Ride Along 2, and he is set for the Nina Dobrev-led romance-drama Departures. He is repped by CAA and Stone Genow.
