The Big Picture
Prime Video has announced the release date for the limited series Expats starring Nicole Kidman set in Hong Kong. Expats follows the lives of three women in 2014 Hong Kong, brought together by tragedy. The miniseries is based on best-selling novel “The Expatriates” by Janice Y. K. Lee.
Film and television has, for the best part of the year so far, taken audiences on journeys to new realities where most of us felt like welcomed expatriates – Barbie immediately springs to mind. Now with the year coming to a close, Prime Video has set the release date for its upcoming limited series, Expats. Starring Nicole Kidman, the Hong Kong-set project is now set to hit the streaming service on January 26.
The upcoming miniseries is set in 2014 Hong Kong stars alongside Kidman, Sarayu Blue (Never Have I Ever) and Ji-young Yoo (The Sky Is Everywhere) as three women living in Hong Kong whose lives become interconnected through tragedy. From its title, one can assume that the characters will be scrambling for connection in a world that they do not know about much. Without a trailer to offer a sneak peek of what is to come, one can merely speculate. However, previously released images tease a contemplative and romantic theme to the story. Other members of the cast include Brian Tee (Chicago Med) and Jack Huston (Kill Your Darlings) with Tee’s Clarke married to Kidman’s Margaret. The cast list also includes Tiana Gowen, Bodhi del Rosario, and Connor James Gillman who portray the children of Margaret and Clarke.
Expats is a six-episode miniseries that is based on the best-selling novel The Expatriates by author Janice Y. K. Lee. An adaptation was greenlit by Amazon Studios in 2018 and has been in development since with filmmaker Lulu Wang attached to helm the project. Wang came onboard at the end of 2019 after the success enjoyed by her movie The Farewell. The miniseries is executive produced by Dani Melia, with the producer revealing that Kidman had approached Wang about directing the adaptation, “We had the support of lots of new creative blood as well, which was wonderful, and the support of Blossom and Per and Nicole, obviously, helping us transition from a scrappy team who made a low-budget feature that crossed over to making this big international production. It was a great learning experience for all of us.”
Healthy Working Relationship with Kidman
Image via Prime Video
At the start of filming, the process was impacted by COVID outbreaks alongside other challenges around star actor Kidman. However, series’ director Wang has revealed a close working relationship with Kidman. In an interview with Collider, Wang said:
I think that it wouldn’t have been made without her, and that is the fact of it because my entire team, my collaborators from The Farewell, came on to this project and we had done a very small $3 million feature about my grandmother, and to board something of this scope and size and budget, it was incredible that she believed in my vision enough to help make sure that I was supported by the studio and they did, and I just couldn’t believe it.
Expats arrives Prime Video on January 26, 2024. Check out the new poster below:
Image via Prime Video
This post was modified on 2023-10-04 14:30:26