Gemma Chan is set to produce a TV adaptation of Julie C Dao’s book series, Rise of the Empress for Amazon Prime Video.
Writers, executive producers, and co-showrunners Crystal Liu and James Wong (American Horror Story) are at the helm with Chan serving as executive producer and Dao contributing as a co-executive producer.
The series will run over eight episodes and will be filmed in Malaysia. The Rise of the Empress series includes Forest of a Thousand Lanterns (2017), Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix (2018), and a companion novel, Song of the Crimson Flower (2019).
The series is also supported by JuVee Productions, led by Viola Davis and Julius Tennon (The Woman King), and Significant Productions, led by Forest Whitaker and Nina Yang Bongiovi (Godfather of Harlem). Both production companies maintain first-look deals with Amazon MGM Studios.
Rise of the Empress is described as a “dark and mystical East Asian fantasy reimagining of The Evil Queen legend.” Set in a fantastical ancient Asian empire on the brink of collapse due to internal strife, the story unfolds with a marriage alliance that promises peace.
As competition intensifies to win the Prince’s hand, the narrative takes an unexpected turn with the arrival of Xifeng, a dazzling peasant girl manipulated into the fray by a vengeful sorceress. The tale explores themes of love, power, and self-determination, asking whether Xifeng can save not only herself but also the entire empire.
Nick Pepper, head of U.S. SVOD TV development and series at Amazon MGM Studios, praised the story: “This story, led by an incredible female heroine, is an inspiring tale of strength and resilience. Crystal, alongside the teams at JuVee and Significant, and Gemma, have done an amazing job capturing the magic created by Julie and we are thrilled to welcome James to help bring this brilliant project to life in a way that will resonate with our global Prime Video customers.”
Crystal Liu expressed her excitement: “I’m honored and so excited for this opportunity to bring Julie C. Dao’s extraordinary books to the screen — a sumptuous, spellbinding tale of intrigue, with a subversive heroine for the ages.” She added that the adaptation aims to “build this epic, daring new world fueled by the wondrous, twisted things we do for love.”
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JuVee Productions highlighted the empowering nature of the source material: “Julie C. Dao’s book series not only builds a fantastical world of opulence and mystery out of Asian history but centers a character that in her defiance to be what she is expected to be, finds the strength that may give her the power to change the world.”
