"China Rich Girlfriend" has a lot to live up to after "Crazy Rich Asians" was such a success this summer, but director Jon M. Chu doesn't seem worried.

Although the sequel is still in the works, he has already promised that it will be "fun and insane," not to mention have a "real message." He opened up about his plans during a Deadline interview, sharing some of what fans can expect.

The first film didn't follow the first book in Kevin Kwan's bestselling series exactly, so it's evident that Chu is willing to diverge as he sees fit. Based on what he said, they're still trying to figure out the story they want to tell and how to use their "deep bench of characters."

"I think it won't just be 'China Rich Girlfriend,'" the director said of the sequel. "I think there are things that we left out of 'Crazy Rich Asians' that we would love to explore as well."

Chu specifically named some actors he'd like to do more with in the upcoming film. He mentioned Gemma Chan (Astrid), Harry Shum Jr. (Charlie), Jimmy O. Yang (Bernard), and Awkwafina (Peik Lin). His goal is to "play to everyone's strengths now and really lean into them."

At least two of those characters are ones Chu had already discussed before in terms of a sequel. He previously acknowledged the scene at the end of "Crazy Rich Asians" that teases a romance between Charlie and Astrid.

"The idea is to tell the story in the next movie," Chu told THR in August. "I made a promise to Harry, so I'm going to do it."

Unfortunately for fans, it will be a while before Chu can turn his full attention to the film. He has other projects in the pipeline, notably an adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes's musical "In the Heights." That film is going to start shooting this summer.

So far, "China Rich Girlfriend" does not have a release date.

[via: Deadline]