As of July 28, Variety reported exclusively that NYT Bestselling author Mary H.K. Choi had the rights to her 2021 contemporary novel Yolk acquired to be adapted into a television series with Picturestart.
The novel follows two estranged sisters, Jayne and June Baek— Jayne is making her way through fashion school in New York City, while her sister June has a high-finance paying job and has never really struggled in her life, until she’s diagnosed with uterine cancer. Now the sisters have to reunite, flung together by circumstances, but get into a messy plot of switching places and committing insurance fraud.
Choi will be adapting her novel for the screenplay alongside Jessica O’Toole (“XOXO Kitty”, “Jane The Virgin”), with O’Toole serving as showrunner.
Executive producers attach to the project include Erik Feig, founder and CEO of Picturestart, Samie Kim Falvey, Julia Hammer, Emily Wissink alongside Jermaine Johnson of 3 Arts and Lulu Wang (director of The Farewell) and Dani Melia of Local Time, a newly formed production company.
Feig stated in the article, “Mary is quickly proving herself to be the voice of a generation, applying her keen observational eye to the universal themes of family, identity, and belonging in this peerless coming-of-age story. She’s viciously funny but deeply empathetic at the same time, and the moment we read ‘Yolk,’ we knew it was a series we had to make at Picturestart—and we knew Mary had to be the one to adapt it.”
According to Choi’s Instagram post, she exclaimed, “SO. PUMPED. Also exquisitely in love with this entire team so hard already. I can’t wait to make this so good and so squish and so sob…”
Jayne Baek is barely getting by. She shuffles through fashion school, saddled with a deadbeat boyfriend, clout-chasing friends, and a wretched eating disorder that she’s not fully ready to confront. But that’s New York City, right? At least she isn’t in Texas anymore, and is finally living in a city that feels right for her.
On the other hand, her sister June is dazzlingly rich with a high-flying finance job and a massive apartment. Unlike Jayne, June has never struggled a day in her life. Until she’s diagnosed with uterine cancer.
Suddenly, these estranged sisters who have nothing in common are living together. Because sisterly obligations are kind of important when one of you is dying.
Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi is out now!
The Booked Shelf 