Update: Wanghas taken to Twitterto express displeasure at this early “leak” of news, and to note she’s not a fan of “remakes.” So it sounds like this project may be early days, and may or may not ever happen.
2019 was a wonderful year for film, andThe Farewellstood near the front of the pack. Written and directed byLulu Wang, the film starsAwkwafinain a Golden Globe-winning performance as a Chinese-American woman who joins her family in planning one final party for their dying grandmother (Zhao Shu-zhen) — without, y’know, telling her that she’s dying. It’s a deft, remarkable, tone-blending feature that instantly had me excited for Wang’s filmic future — and now we know what that will be. PerVariety, Wang will be directing the family dramaLike Father, Like Son.
If that title sounds in any way familiar, that makes sense.Like Father, Like Sonis a Japanese 2013 film fromHirokazu Kore-edawhich debuted at Cannes and won its Jury Prize. His film, which starsFukuyama Masaharu,Ono Machiko,Maki YokoandLily Franky, is about two families who realize their six-year-old songs have been switched at birth, and the complications that ensue.
Wang’sLike Father, Like Sonwill be written by noted playwrightSarah Ruhl(In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play)) and produced by both Wang andJosh McLaughlin(Parental Guidance) for Focus Features. It will tackle similar material, but don’t call it a “remake”. Wangtook to Twitterto air her grievances with a lack of context with film publications leaking what she’s working on and using such disparaging terminology as “remake”:
Leaks on projects are really obnoxious because it lacks total context and all relevant perspective. If people wanted to know what a filmmaker is working on, perhaps they could actually ask the filmmakers involved? I’ve always been very transparent about my passions. P.S. I don’t believe in “remakes”. I’ll leave it at that for now.
I, for one, can’t wait to see the final product that Wang does believe in. Until then, here’s whya recent AMC dealmight make discovering new voices like Wang even harder moving forward.
