Christopher Tin - Crazy Rich Asians

Released August 15, 2018
CREDIT: Arranger, Conductor, and Producer
STUDIO: Warner Brothers Pictures

From the Best Selling Novel...

Released in 2013, the original work by Kevin Kwan became a best seller and received positive reviews internationally from sources including The New York Times, The Boston Globe and the Independent. With its crazy and unputdownably funny plot, Kwan’s intention in writing the novel was to bring a fresh look of contemporary China to the somewhat outdated Western perspective. On the heels of its success, Crazy Rich Asians was followed by the sequel China Rich Girlfriend in 2015 and Rich People Problems in 2017.

... to the Movie

Warners Bros. Pictures put director Jon M. Chu in charge of the film adaptation of the first novel to be released five years later. Starring only Asian actresses and actors, Chu took this as a chance to change how Hollywood perceives what ethnicity a leading man or woman should be. By staying true to the book and being free from stereotypes, ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ serves a very important role for the Asian American community, as they suffer from their own lack of representation on screen and behind-the-scenes, like many other underrepresented minority groups.

His First Big Band Chart

Christopher Tin was brought on board and had the thrill of arranging a number of jazz tunes for ‘Crazy Rich Asians’, including his very first big band chart. Based on an old Chinese melody ('He Ri Jun Zai Lai’), his high-energy big band + orchestra arrangement was chosen by director Jon M. Chu and the Warner Bros. team to score the opening of the film. Performed by Jasmine Chen and arranged, conducted and produced by Christopher Tin, the song “Waiting for Your Return” was also an opportunity for Tin to play a musical role in the greater movement conveyed by Crazy Rich Asians.

Reception

Crazy Rich Asians was one of the most highly anticipated 2018 Hollywood movies and earned a great amount of accolades since its release. Specifically, Christopher Tin’s big band opener “Waiting For Your Return” was singled out by movie reviewers who said: “Thirty seconds. That’s how long it took to shed my first tears” (The Globe and Mail), “It’s a thrilling opening for a thoughtfully curated soundtrack” (Wired), “I got goosebumps when Jasmine Chen’s “Waiting for Your Return” kicked in at the beginning” (The Atlantic).

I got goosebumps when Jasmine Chen's "Waiting for Your Return" kicked in at the beginning and she began singing in Mandarin... I didn't make it past the opening credits without bursting into spontaneous tears. Music can be such an emotional part of a movie experience to me, so the second Chen's cover started playing in Mandarin...at the top of the film, I was gone.

The Atlantic

In the first 15 seconds, the litany of opening credits rolled by. Then, a song. It starts with jazzy woodwinds that rise to a crescendo of horns. A final few staccato blasts of trumpets introduce the sultry singer. She's singing in Mandarin. Crazy Rich Asians had barely begun and my waterworks had arrived... The Mandarin opener by Jasmine Chen set the tone for me, a salvo that made clear the producers had thought through the emotional weight of the film right down to the details.

The Globe and Mail

The opening song gave me goosebumps! The first strain of music you hear in the film is this old-Hollywood big band intro. Then the vocalist comes in ... and the song is in Mandarin! The first track, "Waiting for Your Return," is a Chinese jazz classic, delivered with renewed verve and glamor by vocalist Jasmine Chen. It's a thrilling opening for a thoughtfully curated soundtrack, interspersed with Chinese classics along with covers of American pop songs in Mandarin and Cantonese.

Wired