Japanese Breakfast’s Crying in H Mart memoir to be adapted into movie

© Peter Ash Lee

The film rights to Michelle Zauner’s debut book have been acquired by MGM’s Orion Pictures.

Japanese Breakfast‘s memoir, Crying in H Mart, is being turned into a movie. The film rights have been acquired by MGM’s Orion Pictures, with the new movie set to be co-produced by Stacey Sher and Jason Kim. Japanese Breakfast, aka Michelle Zauner, will adapt the book and also create the feature film’s soundtrack. 

Crying in H Mart began life as an essay. It was penned by Zauner and published by the New Yorker back in August 2018. The essay covered topics like childhood, identity, Korean-American culture and grief, following the passing of Zauner’s mother. Shortly after its release, Zauner signed a book deal for Crying in H Mart. The New York Times bestseller was released in April, with a hardback UK release date scheduled for 5 August.

In a new statement discussing the film adaptation of the memoir, Zauner said: “It is a surreal thrill to have the opportunity to memorialize my mother in film, and I consider it of the highest honor to pursue that task alongside creative luminaries such as Stacey Sher, Jason Kim and Orion Pictures.”

Last week, Zauner released her third album as Japanese Breakfast, Jubilee. Read our review here.