Shang-Chi’s Destin Daniel Cretton to direct action-comedy series American Born Chinese for Disney+

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton's next project is Disney+ series American Born Chinese. 

Based on Gene Luen Yang' graphic novel of the same name, the series will follow a teenager Jin Wang, who is trying to find a balance between his social life and the constraints of living in an immigrant home. When he meets a foreign exchange student on the first day of the new school years, he gets tied up in a battle between Chinese mythological gods, The Hollywood Reporter writes.

Cretton will serve as director and executive producer on the series, which is adapted for screen by Kelvin Yu and Charles Yu. Kelvin is also attached as showrunner. Melvin Mar and Jake Kasdan will also executive produce.

American Born Chinese comes from Disney Branded Television, and is the first project to arrive after Ayo Davis took over as president of the division. 

The director, in a statement, said that Kelvin's adaptation of the novel had him "laughing and crying and jumping out of my chair on every page." He added that he feels deeply connected to the story, and the series will be unlike anything the audience have watched before on TV. 

Disney is yet to unveil the cast and release date of American Born Chinese. 

Cretton's last film led by Simu Liu was Marvel's first film with an Asian lead. Shang-Chi, which comes under the Phase 4 of Marvel Cinematic Universe, has become one of the top-grossing films of 2021. The cast also included Hong Kong actor Tony Leung, Awkwafina, Fala Chen, Benedict Wong among others. 

Cretton has also helmed the 2019 drama Just Mercy, starring Michael B Jordan. He plays Bryan Stevenson, a lawyer representing the case of a death row inmate Walter McMillian (played by Jamie Foxx).