Acclaimed filmmaker Ang Lee is set to direct Old Gold Mountain, a feature film adaptation of C Pam Zhang’s celebrated debut novel How Much of These Hills Is Gold. The project will bring to screen the haunting tale of two young immigrant siblings navigating loss, identity, and survival in a mythic American West.
The screenplay comes from Hansol Jung, best known for her work on the Apple TV+ series Pachinko. Her adaptation captures the novel’s blend of lyrical storytelling and emotional depth as it follows Lucy and Sam, newly orphaned children forced to flee a hostile mining town. On a quest to bury their father in a way that honours their fractured past, the siblings venture through a surreal, unforgiving landscape, marked by tiger paw prints, buffalo bones, and the lingering ghosts of family secrets.
Originally published in 2020, Zhang’s novel was hailed for its reimagining of the American frontier through the eyes of immigrants, challenging the mythology of the Old West with themes of displacement, identity, and memory.
Best known for films like Brokeback Mountain, Life of Pi, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Lee brings an auteur’s touch and a history of deeply human storytelling to the project. He is also developing a biopic on martial arts legend Bruce Lee.