Worlds collide: High school meets mythology in ‘American Born Chinese’
WHAT’S NEW ON DISNEY+ “American Born Chinese” - Season 1
The highly anticipated action comedy “American Born Chinese,” based on the groundbreaking graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang, makes its debut on Disney+ Wednesday, May 24. An average teenager, Jin Wang (Ben Wang, “Chang Can Dunk,” 2023) is just doing his best to balance his home life with the trials and tribulations of high school. When he meets and befriends a new foreign student (Jimmy Liu, “The Farewell,” 2019), Jin’s world changes forever when he learns that his new friend is the son of a mythological Chinese god. As he searches for his own identity, this family, comedy and action-packed story finds Jin embroiled in an otherworldly battle beyond his wildest dreams. From executive producer, showrunner and writer Kelvin Yu (“Bob’s Burgers”), “American Born Chinese” is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” 2021) and Lucy Liu (“Elementary”). Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan and James Hong reunite to star in the series after their work in the Oscarsweeping film “Everything Everywhere All At Once” (2022), alongside Yeo Yann Yann (“Ilo Ilo,” 2013), Chin Han (“The Dark Knight,” 2008), Poppy Liu (“Hacks”), Sydney Taylor (“Just Add Magic: Mystery City”), Daniel Wu (“Into the Badlands”) and “Crazy Rich Asians’” (2018) Ronny Chieng and Jimmy O. Yang.
WHAT’S NEW ON PRIME VIDEO “The Gryphon”
Prime Video Germany’s six-episode, big-budget fantasy epic, “The Gryphon,” based on book series by Wolfgang Hohlbein, makes its international debut on the Amazon streamer Friday, May 26. The story follows misfits Mark (Jeremias Meyer, “Vampire Sisters,” 2012), Memo (Zoran Pingel, “The Island”) and Becky (Lea Drinda, “We Children from Bahnhof Zoo”), as they stumble upon a fantastical world called The Black Tower. It is here where a world-devouring monster called the Gryphon, who ruthlessly subjugates all living creatures he comes across, resides. Reluctant be drawn into a monster fight, despite being the only one who can take down the Gryphon, it isn’t until his brother Thomas (Theo Trebs, “The White Ribbon,” 2009) goes missing that Mark and his friends face their destiny and set out to confront the dangers of The Black Tower. Brought to the screen by creators Sebastian Marka and Erol Yesilkaya (both of “Tatort”), “The Gryphon” is directed by Marka and Max Zahle (“Schrotten!,” 2016) and executive produced by Quirin Berg (“Pagan Peak”), Max Wiedemann (“Who Am I,” 2014) and André Zoch (“How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast)”). Sabine Timoteo (“The Chronicles of Melanie,” 2016), Flora Li Thiemann (“The Aftermath,” 2019), Yuri Volsch (“Das
WHAT’S NEW ON MAX “Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai” Season 1
As Warner Bros. Discovery drops the “HBO” from its streamer title, it prepares to launch its newly rebranded streaming service, Max, Tuesday, May 23, making it its new, one-stop “destination for HBO Originals, Warner Bros. films, Max Originals, the DC universe, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, an expansive offering of kids content, and best-in-class programming across food, home, reality, lifestyle and documentaries from leading brands like HGTV, Food Network, Discovery Channel, TLC, ID and more” (per Warner Bros. Discovery). And, with the launch of its shiny-new streaming service (don’t worry, HBO Max subscribers, your current plan and app should update automatically), comes a slate of brand-new streaming content. One of these, releasing on launch day, is the computer-animated fantasy comedy series “Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai,” a prequel to the original hit film “Gremlins” (1984). Taking viewers back to 1920s Shanghai, the series begins as the Wing family first meets young Mogwai Gizmo (A.J. LoCascio, “Voltron: Legendary Defender”). Accepting the dangerous task of taking Gizmo home, young Sam Wing (Izaac Wang, “Raya and the Last Dragon,” 2021) — the future shop owner, Mr. Wing, from the original film — embarks on a journey through the Chinese countryside with his new companion and a teenage street thief name Elle (Gabrielle Nevaeh, “All That”). As they take on monsters, spirits from Chinese folklore and a powerhungry industrialist, the ragtag group will stop at nothing to find the way home. Executive produced by Steven Spielberg (“Schindler’s List,” 1993), Tze Chun (“Gotham”), Brendan Hay (“Harvey Girls Forever!”), Sam Register (“Ben 10”) and Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank (both of “The Americans”), the series also voice stars Matthew Rhys (“The Americans”), Ming-Na Wen (“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”), James Hong (“Everything Everywhere All At Once,” 2022), BD Wong (“Mr. Robot”), Randall Park (“Fresh Off the Boat”), Sandra Oh (“Killing Eve”), George Takei (“Star Trek”), Bowen Yang (“Saturday Night Live”) and Zach Galligan, who played Billy in the original film.