Will Yun Le and Mark and Christine Holder’s Seoul Street have purchased the rights to the best-selling novels, Want and Ruse, from author Cindy Pon. The books are being developed as an international television series.
The news comes courtesy of Deadline, with the outlet reporting the project is in the early stages. A search is underway for a writer on the project, with those involved hoping to find an Asian American writer to work on the series. In a statement to Deadline, Christine Holder praised Pon’s books. “It’s an exciting and touching portrayal of love, war, and friendship encapsulated in this incredibly rich and textured world that Cindy has brilliantly created,” she said. “Cindy’s characters leaped off the page from the moment I opened the book. Her ability to craft such beautifully human characters while narrating the Asian experience lines up so well with what we are striving for at Seoul Street.”
Pon’s book Want takes place in a near-future Taipei plagued by pollution in which a group of teenagers are willing to risk everything in order to save their city. Ruse, the follow-up novel to Want, the story takes place in a near-future Shanghai, a group of teens have their world turned upside down when one of their own is kidnapped.
Like Holder, Pon expressed her excitement over the option of her books in a statement to Deadline. “Want is a book of my heart and was such a challenge and delight to write. It is a love letter to Taipei and cyberpunk with Asian leads, and I’m so excited by the prospect of bringing my story to the screen with the team at Seoul Street.”
Source: Deadline.
