Randall Park and Daniel Dae Kim have gone from starring as love interests in Ali Wong’s Always Be My Maybe to teaming up for a new heist movie.
The two Korean-American actors are set to star in an untitled Asian-American-led heist film that will be written by screenwriter Young Il Kim, who is also of Korean origin, Deadline reports. Kim has previously worked on Showtime’s Billions and penned the script for the upcoming Hulu show, Rodham. Amazon Studios landed the heist film after an intense bidding war between several studios and streamers.
While it’s unclear what exactly happens in the film, it appears that it will be loosely focused on high school friends who reunite, with antics later ensuing. “I think it has nods to Ocean’s 11, The Full Monty as well as Better Luck Tomorrow,” Kim told Deadline. “It’s a story that kind of highlights community, friendship, unity in a very familiar genre that people I think will enjoy.”
Kim, Park, and John Cheng—Head of Development at production house 3AD—pieced the original story together. Park and Kim will act as leads, with the rest of the cast to be largely comprised of Asian-American actors.
The film follows the mainstream success of Asian-American centered films like Crazy Rich Asians, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, Mulan, Always Be My Maybe, Parasite, and more. Kim also told the outlet that the bidding war was reassuring. “There is an appetite to see this kind of a movie with an Asian American cast and that is a really promising sign of the times," he said.
Park, Kim, and Cheng will serve as producers under Kim’s 3AD banner, which aims to bolster TV, film, and digital media stories that feature characters from underrepresented cultures. 3AD produces ABC’s The Good Doctor, and signed a first-look TV deal with Amazon Studios last year, though the heist movie is outside the deal’s purview.
