At this point, we’ve only watched the Crazy Rich Asians trailer a million times. The film hits cinemas in Singapore (where it all happened) next week, and leading man Henry Golding will be there for the premiere, along with some of his co-stars Pierre Png, Tan Kheng Hua and Fiona Xie, as well as director Jon M. Chu.
Armed with nothing but the YouTube replay button, screencapture and good ol’ Google, we dissected the trailer for nearly (nearly! We’re not perfect; also, production secrets are kept well) every real-life filming location.
Read also: What Crazy Rich Asians got right (and wrong) about Singapore
#1 The Singapore skyline
CRA singapore skyline
The location: The Merlion, Marina Bay Sands, ArtScience Museum and the Singapore Flyer feature throughout the trailer.
#2 Our guess: Musse boutique, Kuala Lumpur
The scene: Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) shops with her mother Kerry Chu (Tan Kheng Hua) in New York.
The location: It’s only a hunch, but sometime last year, we saw Musse in Bangsar closed for filming. There was also a big screen placed in front of the windows of the boutique, which we’re now certain must have been the New York-like façade you see outside the windows in this scene.
#3 Our guess: Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2
The scene: Nicholas Young (Henry Golding) and Rachel prepare to fly to Singapore.
The location: The cab plates tell us Nick and Rachel are departing from New York, but anyone familiar with klia2 will see that the location looks suspiciously like the Malaysian airport. After all, they didn’t film in New York.
Read also: 11 reasons Henry Golding is the hero we need
#4 The plane
The scene: Nick and Rachel get on the plane, straight to First Class.
The airlines: Pacific Asean Airlines is fictional, of course. However, it’s interesting to note that Singapore Airlines will soon start making direct flights from Newark to Singapore.
#5 Be-landa House, Kuala Lumpur
The scene: Eleanor Young’s bible study group meets at her friend Carol Tai’s house to drink tea, gossip, and for good measure, share bible passages.
The location: This real-life mansion belongs to Jan and Ineke Hofstede, and was designed by Stephanie Maignan, co-founder of KL-based architectural firm 29 Design.
#6 Carcosa Seri Negara, Kuala Lumpur
CRA carcosa
The scene: Tyersall Park, the home of Nick’s grandmother, Shang Su Yi.
The location: Two adjacent mansions, which made up the former luxury hotel Carcosa Seri Negara, were used to film the interior and exterior of Tyersall Park. It looks like a lake was digitally added to the mansion grounds in the trailer. Director Jon M. Chu told Condé Nast Traveler that “There were certain aspects to Tyersall Park, where Nick’s grandmother lives, that you couldn’t find in Singapore. That’s what makes the fictional Tyersall Park, this sort of Central Park within the tight squeeze of Singapore, such an amazing location in the book, because those properties just don’t exist anymore. So we had to go to Malaysia to film that part.”
Read also: 10 times Constance Wu’s bunny was a low-key Crazy Rich Asian
#7 Marina Bay Sands infinity pool, Singapore
The scene: It’s probably during one of the big bashes thrown during the story (spoiler: there will be plenty).
The location: Located on the top floor of Marina Bay Sands, the pool gives you views of the city below.
#8 A parking lot in Malaysia
The scene: Colin’s bachelor party
The location: The container ship was built in a parking lot somewhere in Malaysia for the outrageous party scenes.
#9 Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, Penang
The scene: Where Eleanor goes to play mahjong with Rachel
The location: Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, also known as the Blue Mansion, is a heritage boutique hotel in Penang.
#10 Humpback, Bukit Pasoh Road, Singapore
The scene: “Bawk, bawk, bitch!”
The location: Humpback is a seafood restaurant with al fresco seats, located opposite The Reading Room, a book café which turns into a bar at night.
#11 Langkawi Island, Malaysia
CRA Langkawi
The scene: Nick and Colin escape the latter’s nightmare of a bachelor party to Rawa Island, a real island in Johor. It’s where Nick tells Colin he wants to marry Rachel.
The location: The scene in the movie was shot in a quiet nook somewhere in Langkawi instead.
#12 Gardens by the Bay
The scene: Colin and Araminta’s wedding reception
The location: The Supergrove Trees make a phenomenal setting for the wedding (we can’t imagine how hot it must have been up there during filming!).
#13 CHIJMES
CRA Chijmes
The scene: Colin and Araminta’s wedding ceremony
The location: The Gothic Revival-style building was a Catholic convent known as the Convent of the Holy Infant Jessus Middle Education School before it was turned into a function hall.
#14 Newton Food Court
The scene: After Colin and Araminta pick Nick and Rachel up from the airport, they’re whisked off to Lau Pa Sat for supper.
The location: In the movie, the location was changed to Newton Food Court.
#15 Four Seasons Langkawi
The scene: For her bachelorette party, Araminta brings her girlfriends to her mother’s private island resort in Indonesia.
The location: Langkawi is not a private island of course, and the hotel where the scenes were shot is the Four Seasons.
Crazy Rich Asians opens in the US on 15 August, and in Singapore and Malaysia on 22 August.
Read also: How to live the ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ life
Great detective work!
Well basically it is shot mostly in Malaysia I wud say.
Guys, it was super obvious that the departure hall scene was shot at Changi. KLIA2 looks NOTHING like that.
Having used all the NYC airports, there’s definitely no way it’s shot at any of them (it’s way too clean and modern!), but it’s probably not Changi either unless they also managed to change the airline boards, which I doubt. The 2 airlines using the door shown are Malaysian Airlines and Cathay Pacific. MAS uses Changi T2 while CX is now at T4, having previously been based at T1.
Check out Blvd in KLCC too, which doubled as the New York cafe.