As we previously reported, “Kung Fu Panda 2” director Jennifer Yuh Nelson has begun to direct live-action work alongside her already-prestigious animation career. Now, per Deadline, Nelson will join forces with “Creed” star Michael B. Jordan, Fox, and production company 21 Laps to remake “A Bittersweet Life.”
Originally a Korean cult action flick, “The Bittersweet Life” follows a longtime mobster who becomes emotionally torn between his boss and the mistress he’s been ordered to kill. The newly Americanized version, which will star Jordan, will be a “high-concept, character-driven genre film with franchise potential.”
Nelson’s background is predominantly in animation as both a storyboard artist and director. Her directorial debut, “Kung Fu Panda 2,” and its successor, “Kung Fu Panda 3,” received Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Picture.
Alongside “Frozen” co-director Jennifer Lee, Nelson is one of very few women directors in animation. Even though women make up roughly 60 percent of college animation programs, they represent only about 20 percent of the creative workforce.
Nelson’s live-action adaptation of “The Darkest Minds” is still in production. Featuring Mandy Moore (“This is Us,” “Tangled”), Amandla Stenberg (“Everything, Everything”), and Gwendoline Christie (“Game of Thrones”), the sci-fi thriller follows a group of supernatural children on the run from the government. It is expected to hit theaters in 2018.
