The Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons will star in the viral Chinese-American friendship story of Brother Orange.
Parsons will play BuzzFeed editor and writer Matt Stopera who traced his stolen phone in New York in 2014 to China after random pictures began appearing on his photo stream including a picture of a Chinese man next to an orange tree. Stopera wrote his story on BuzzFeed and ventured to China whilst documenting his journey, to track the phone and meet the Chinese man in the photos who was nicknamed ‘Brother Orange’.
His story went viral in China, garnering more than 20 million views in 24 hours and 100 million total shares on Weibo. In the US, Stopera and Brother Orange (Li Hongjun from Meizhou, Guangdong province) became overnight stars and even appeared on The Ellen Show.
Warner Bros and BuzzFeed Motion Pictures have teamed up with Parsons and his real life partner, Todd Spiewak, under That’s Wonderful Productions, to produce the film. The movie currently remains untitled.
Stopera will be the executive producer of the film, alongside Broad City co-creator Ilana Glazer, Ellen DeGeneres and Jeff Kleeman. Michael Shamberg and Matthew Henick, head of development at BuzzFeed Motion Pictures, will also serve as producers.
