Disney reuniting with Shang-Chi director for new comic adaptation

Shang-Chi and the Legends of the Ten Rings' Destin Daniel Cretton has signed up for a new Disney project following the success of the Marvel movie.

The director will helm and executive produce TV series American Born Chinese for Disney+, with the adaptation of the 2006 graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang given a straight-to-series order, according to Deadline.

The story follows teenager Jin Wang, who juggles his high school social life with his immigrant family life. However, worlds collide when he meets a new foreign student on the first day of the school year and gets entangled in a battle of Chinese mythological gods.

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American Born Chinese is framed as a genre-hopping action-comedy that explores the themes of identity, culture and family.

Kelvin Yu, Charles Yu, Melvin Mar, Jake Kasdan, Asher Goldstein and Gene Luen Yang will executive produce alongside Cretton, with Charles and Kelvin Yu also writing and the latter serving as showrunner.

"Reading Kelvin's riveting adaptation of Gene's incredible novel had me laughing and crying and jumping out of my chair on every page," Cretton said.

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"I feel deeply connected to the characters in this story and the brilliant team bringing it to life. This show is going to be unlike anything we've experienced on TV, and I can't wait for the world to see what we're cooking up."

Kelvin Yu added: "Gene Luen Yang's book is a staple in American literature, and deeply important to a whole generation of readers. Destin and Melvin are storytellers working at the highest level imaginable. It's all so exciting and so humbling to be a part of."

Meanwhile, it was recently confirmed that Shang-Chi will hit Disney+ on November 12 following its successful cinema run.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is now playing in cinemas in both the US and the UK. It will come to Disney+ on November 12 for Disney+ Day.

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Sam Warner

Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International. Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every 't' and dotting every 'i' as a sub-editor.