Crying in H Mart – the beloved New Yorker essay-turned-New York Times bestseller — is now set for a feature film adaption.
In a competitive situation, MGM label Orion Pictures has picked up the rights to Michelle Zauner’s memoir with Stacey Sher and Jason Kim onboard to produce. The author is also known for her indie pop music released under the name Japanese Breakfast, recently releasing the album Jubilee on June 4. Japanese Breakfast will provide the soundtrack for the feature film.
Zauner will adapt her book, which tracks her years growing up as one of the few Asian American kids at her school in Oregon and the months spent at her grandmother’s apartment in Seoul, as well as her career in the East Coast indie music scene and meeting her husband. At the center of her story is Zauner’s relationship with her mother, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer, at which point Zauner reckons with her identity both as a daughter and a Korean American.
“It is a surreal thrill to have the opportunity to memorialize my mother in film, and I consider it of the highest honor to pursue that task alongside creative luminaries such as Stacey Sher, Jason Kim and Orion Pictures,” Zauner said.
Headed by Alana Mayo, Orion was relaunched by MGM with the intent to focus on features from underrepresented voices and authentic storytelling in film that amplifies underserved voices, both on- and off-screen. Its slate includes Billy Porter’s directorial debut What If? and an adaption of the novel Women Talking that has Frances McDormand set to star and produce.
Sher, whose recent credits include Mrs. America and the Aretha Franklin biopic Respect, is represented by CAA, Gang Tyre and Wolf Kasteler. Kim, repped by WME, Blue Marble Management and GangTyre, works as a writer-producer on HBO’s Barry and wrote for Netflix’s Love.
Zauner is represented by CAA, Ten Atoms and The Book Group.
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
