Lan Samantha Chang’s The Family Chao is headed to the small screen, Deadline reports.
Sam Esmail, the creator of the show Mr. Robot, has optioned the rights to Chang’s novel, published last month by W.W. Norton.
The book, a retelling of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, follows three brothers who reunite in their Wisconsin hometown and are treated with suspicion by locals when their father, a Chinese restaurant owner, is found dead. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus called the novel “a disruptive, sardonic take on the assimilation story.”
Esmail will serve as an executive producer of the series, along with Chang and Chad Hamilton (Briarpatch, Homecoming). Eli Kirschner will be a co-executive producer.
Chang said she was “thrilled” to be working with Ismail.
“I know Sam and his team will bring the Chao family and the mystery surrounding their small-town Chinese restaurant to life on the screen,” she said.
Esmail told Deadline he, too, was excited to work on the project.
“Expertly drawn characters drive this gripping narrative, exploring themes of race, family, betrayal, and the immigrant experience in America—all without being didactic,” he said. “Lan Samantha Chang’s character-driven story lends itself perfectly to the medium of television, and we’re thrilled to help bring her vision to the screen.”
Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
