Having wrapped up the six-season run of his ABC family comedyFresh Off the Boat, Randall Park is looking into the future and lining up some exciting new projects. TheWandaVisionstar is set to make hisfeature directorial debutwith an adaptation of Adrian Tomine’s acclaimed graphic novelShortcomings. The comic tells the story of three Bay Area youngsters – Miko Hayashi, Alice Kim, and Ben Tanaka – who go through a series of tumultuous relationships all over the country. It has a delightful combination of heartfelt humanity and hysterical humor.
According to Park, his adaptation will be an “updated, modern take” on the source material. “In these characters, I see versions of Asian Americans in my own life,” he said. “The ones I love and the ones I just kind of tolerate.” Tomine said that he’d avoided the notion of adaptingShortcomingsfor a while, but that Park and the producers “impressed me with their passion, insight, and vision for this film.”
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While Park has been a popular comedy star for years now, having starred inFresh Off the Boatsince 2015 along with supporting roles in movies likeThe Night BeforeandAquaman, he’s recently enjoyed renewed popularity following hisfan-favorite turn as FBI Agent Jimmy Wooin Marvel’sWandaVision. He also had one of the most memorable guest-starring roles inThe Office’s nine-season run, playing “Asian Jim” in a hilariously elaborate prank against Dwight, and made international headlines back in 2014 with his performance as Kim Jong-un in the wildly controversial political satireThe Interview.
Tomine has written the screenplay forShortcomingsbased on his own comic, which is considered a seminal work in Asian American literature. Roadside Attractions and Imminent Collision are onboard as production companies and Jennifer Berman, Howard Cohen, Eric d’Arbeloff, Michael Golamco, Hieu Ho, and Ryan Paine are all attached as producers alongside Park.
WhileShortcomingswill be the first movie Park has directed, he has helmed short films in the past and also directed himself and his co-stars in the episode “Commencement” fromthe final season ofFresh Off the Boat. He also co-wrote and co-starred in the Netflix romantic comedyAlways Be My MaybewithFresh Off the Boatwriter Ali Wong, but that movie was directed by their showrunner, Nahnatchka Khan.
There’s no official release date forShortcomingsyet, but after developing the project with Tomine for some time, Park and his team of producers will be taking the movie to potential buyers within the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, Park’s voice will be heard in the upcomingPAW Patrolmovie, in which he’ll co-star with Jimmy Kimmel, Tyler Perry, andKim Kardashian.
