Sony Lands Remake Rights to China Box Office Smash ‘Hi, Mom’ (EXCLUSIVE)

By Patrick Frater

October 18, 2023

Sony Pictures has acquired the English-language remake rights to Chinese comedy drama, “Hi, Mom,” which until recently overtaken by “Barbie” had been the world’s highest grossing film directed by a solo female.

The original picture, directed by Jia Ling and released in early 2021, sees a young woman whose mother has been fatally injured in a car accident, travel back to the early 1980s where she becomes best friend to the younger version of her mother. That enables her to work on giving her mother a better life than first time around.

Variety‘s review of the picture said it had an “inspired storytelling switch” and was “a top-notch tearjerker that will have viewers everywhere reaching for the tissues.”

Laura Kosann is in the early stages of development, and is adapting the screenplay with Escape Artists’ Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Steve Tisch and Becky Sanderman producing along with Wenxin She (“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”). Jia is also attached as executive producer.

Repped by CAA, Kosann is a 2021 Academy Nicholl Fellow and has had three features on the annual Black List in the past two years. She is adapting the comic book “Mercy Sparx” for MGM and The Picture Company as well as rewriting a live-action Christmas musical entitled “Santa is Real” for Amazon.

“I am looking forward to this cooperation and I am so glad that my story with my mom can be shared with more people. I believe that while everyone’s story with their mom is unique, the love in these stories is universal and something we can all resonate with,” Jia said.

The original story, known in Chinese as “Hello, Li Huanying,” Jia’s late mother’s real name, was developed by Jia from a comedy sketch of the same name that she wrote in 2016. Production of the feature began in 2019 with production by Beijing Jingxi Culture.

Jia co-starred as the young woman, while Zhang Xiaofei played the younger version of her mother.
“Hi, Mom” was released in February 2021, timed to coincide with the Chinese New Year peak box office season, and grossed RMB5.41 billion (some $841 million at current exchange rates), making it the third highest performing film of all time in China.

The film likely benefitted from the empathy of many audiences separated from their own families by COVID restrictions. But it also scored highly on audience ratings charts and earned screenplay and directing awards for Jia and multiple acting awards for Zhang.