Lulu Wang Sets Nicole Kidman Drama as Next Project
According to The Hollywood Reporter, director Lulu Wang is following up her critically film The Farewell with the Amazon original The Expatriates. Wang will team up with executive producer Nicole Kidman on the project.
“When I first read Janice Lee’s diasporic novel, I was immediately drawn to the rich characters and the global yet intimate exploration of life in modern Hong Kong,” Wang said in a statement. “I’m thrilled to be working with Nicole Kidman and Amazon, whose commitment to bold, nuanced storytelling make them the perfect partners to translate this atmospheric story to screen.”
Wang has written and directed two feature-length films, 2014’s Posthumous and the aforementioned The Farewell, starring Awkwafina. The latter received rave reviews and has grossed $19.6 million worldwide since its release in June. The Expatriates will mark Wang’s first venture into the world of television.
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The Expatriates is based on a book by Janice Y.K. Lee — who is also credited as consulting producer for the series — and follows a group of close-knit women expatriates in Hong Kong. Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, told the outlet that he story “weaves an addictive tapestry that follows a group of complex women and their lives as outsiders in Hong Kong. It’s a compelling exploration of the strength of these women as they persevere through struggles with marriage, career, parenting and unimaginable loss.”
The series will be written by Alice Bell (The Beautiful Lie, The Slap) with Kidman and Per Saari executive producing for Blossom Films along with executive producer Theresa Park.
“I’m so thrilled about the Blossom-Amazon collaboration. The Expatriates is just the beginning of our shared goal in making delicious stories with something meaningful to say about the world,” Kidman added.
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Amazon’s full description of The Expatriates reads as follows:
“Set against the backdrop of ‘The Vertical City’ of Hong Kong, The Expatriates is a drama series that explores the lives of a close-knit expatriate community: where affluence is celebrated, friendships are intense but knowingly temporary, and personal lives, deaths and marriages are played out publicly — then retold with glee. There’s Margaret, a world-renowned American architect struggling with the unwavering suspicion that something could be wrong with her latest project — an ambitious skyscraper already gracing the Hong Kong skyline — until an unexpected event upends her life; Mercy, a Korean-American college graduate with a questionable past seeking a new life, who quickly finds herself embroiled in an unforgivable scandal; Hilary, a British expat who yearns for a child despite her uncertain marriage, then dabbles in local customs and make-believe identities in a deliberate attempt to change her fate; Tammy, a high-flying alpha-expat who is blindsided when her husband’s Chinese second family appears on her doorstep; Barbara, whose decadent lifestyle belies a ticking clock; Franny, an Australian expat loyal to anyone she’s having lunch with, who faces an existential crisis; and Olivia, a Chinese local socialite who experiences a humiliating loss of status. This is a delicious world of unusual alliances, heartfelt truths and mystifying superstitions; a place where fortunes are made and lost, families sundered and brought together, identities made and then remade in pursuit of an extraordinary life.”
