Golshifteh Farahani (Paterson), Justin Min (The Umbrella Academy), Sarita Choudhury (Homeland) and Haley Lu Richardson are set to join Colin Farrell in A24’s robot drama After Yang from writer-director Kogonada, Collider has exclusively learned
After Yang is based on Alexander Weinstein‘s short story Saying Goodbye to Yang, which was set in a world where robotic children are purchased as live-in babysitters. The story followed a father and daughter as they try to save the life of their robotic family member, Yang, who was programmed to help his little sister learn about her cultural heritage.
The film will follow a couple, played by Farrell and Farahani, who adopt a young Chinese girl as well as an A.I. sibling named Yang (Min). When Yang suddenly becomes unresponsive, the family goes to great lengths to repair him. Choudhury will co-star as a museum director who takes great interest in Yang, while Richardson will play another A.I. who strikes up a relationship with Yang.
Theresa Park will produce under her Per Capita Productions banner along with Cinereach (We the Animals). They teamed to acquire the short story last summer and tapped Kogonada, hot off Columbus, to write the script.
Farahani recently starred opposite Adam Driver in Jim Jarmusch‘s drama Paterson, and she’ll soon be seen alongside Chris Hemsworth in the action-thriller Dhaka. She has worked with Ridley Scott twice, on Body of Lies and Exodus: Gods and Kings, and she also appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. She’s repped by CAA, which did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Best known for playing Ben Hargreeves on Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy, Min also has a role in Nicolas Winding Refn‘s upcoming Amazon series Too Old to Die Young. He’s repped by The Kohner Agency, Authentic Talent and Literary Management.
Choudhury recently starred opposite Tom Hanks in Tom Tykwer‘s A Hologram for the King and appeared in both Mockingjay movies in the Hunger Games franchise. In addition to M. Night Shyamalan‘s Lady in the Water, she also starred on Hulu’s The Path and Showtime’s Homeland. Choudhury is repped by Buchwald and Washington Square Films.
Kogonada is the South Korea-born writer-director who made his feature directorial debut with the 2017 romantic drama Columbus starring John Cho and Richardson, whose credits also include Split and The Edge of Seventeen. She currently stars opposite Cole Sprouse in Five Feet Apart. Richardson is repped by the Gersh Agency and 3 Arts Entertainment.
