Will Sharpe directs Japanese Breakfast Crying in H Mart

Will Sharpe, who starred opposite Aubrey Plaza in Season 2 of “The White Lotus,” is directing the film adaptation of “Crying in H Mart,” the best-selling (and heartbreaking) memoir by Japanese indie rocker Michelle Zauner. Breakfast.

The studio announced that Sharpe is about a half-Korean girl who returns to small-town Oregon to take care of her Korean mother. The project, which was first announced in 2021, was written by Zauner himself, is set at MGM Orion Pictures, and is now moving forward under the supervision of Amazon. Amazon completed its $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM last spring, and the studio is ramping up its hiring of new film boss Courtenay Valenti.

“Crying in H Mart” follows the stories of Zauner and his critical, suffocating mother, Chong-mi, as they struggle to understand each other across a cultural fault line and learn to see and accept each other only through the formative and vibrating power of music. the flavors of Korean cuisine.

Zauner is also involved in the score for the film adaptation – he probably writes an original song or two, but he doesn’t compose the entire score. Stacey Sher is producing the film alongside Jason Kim.

Sharpe previously worked with Amazon on “The Electrical Life of Louis Wain,” which he directed and co-wrote. He also directed the HBO/Sky show ‘Landscapers’ and the dark comedy-drama series ‘Flowers’ – both projects starring Olivia Colman. Sharpe stars in the BBC thriller series ‘Giri/Haji’.

Sharpe said Peoplewhich first broke the news that “Crying in H Mart” resonated deeply with him as he is half British and half Japanese and spent much of his childhood in Tokyo.

“Some of the descriptions of being left behind in her family’s kitchen were very familiar to me,” Sharpe said. “I found it to be universal in its specificity…as it describes in such loving detail the experience of Korean food and cooking Korean food.”

Will Sharpe is repped by UTA, Independent Talent Group and Artists Rights Group.

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