Daniel James Brown’s highly anticipated book Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II hasn’t even been released, but there is already a TV series in the works, according to Deadline. This story of the Japanese Americans who served in the 442nd Regiment during World War II comes from Brown, whose previous book, The Boys in the Boat, about the 1936 Berlin Olympics, has sold more than three million copies and is slated for its own cinematic retelling at MGM with George Clooney set to direct and Smokehouse producing. Brown, who also wrote The Indifferent Stars Above and Under a Flaming Sky, saw his last book stay on the New York Times bestseller list for 150 weeks.
Facing the Mountain has secured its own star director in the form of Destin Daniel Cretton. Initially known for award-winning dramas like Short Term 12 and Just Mercy, Cretton’s next project is Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first Asian superhero movie, which is scheduled to be release this coming Labor Day.
Cretton, who is taking a significant step by bringing Shang-Chi into the mainstream for a huge moviegoing American public, is a great choice to helm this new film, which will cast on a spotlight on a group of people who fought for their country while they saw the United States create internment camps for other Japanese-Americans they were worried might have problematic loyalties. Cretton will serve as a producer along with Asher Goldstein, who he collaborated with on both Short Term 12 and Just Mercy.
The 442nd Regiment is part of the mythology of popular The Karate Kid character Mr. Miyagi’s background, who served during World War II and taught his commanding officer karate.
The unit was distinctive also for the being the most decorated of its size during the war, with twenty-one members awarded the Medal of Honor.