Production has wrapped on Chang Can Dunk, an original, live-action film from Disney slated for release in 2023, exclusively on Disney+.
- Chang Can Dunk will follow a 16-year old, constantly marginalized, not-popular high school kid and wannabe basketball player becomes obsessed with the idea of learning to dunk, all in an effort to best the school’s basketball star, Matt — and hopefully win the adoration of the very pretty Kristy.
- The new film is written and directed by Jingyi Shao.
- Lena Waithe and Rishi Rajani will serve as producers through their Hillman Grad Productions.
- Brad Weston and Negin Salmasi will also produce the movie.
- Pamela Thur serves as executive producer.
- To lend authenticity to the film and properly represent the dunk culture, filmmakers hired one of the foremost dunk experts, Connor Barth, to help the actors train.
- Chang Can Dunk is intended for Disney+.
The cast:
- Bloom Li is playing the lead, Chang. Li was encouraged to audition by a friend and submitted a self-tape on his own, which put him on the path to eventually getting the part.
- Li’s credits include a recurring role on Hulu’s Into the Dark, Awesomeness TV’s My Dead Ex and appearances on CBS’ S.W.A.T.
- Ben Wang play’s Bo, Chang’s best friend. Wang was recently seen in Disney’s Launchpad short “Dinner Is Served” on Disney+.
- Dexter Darden, a former pro basketball player and two-time Estonia League MVP, plays Deandre.
- Chase Liefeld plays Matt, the school’s star athlete.
- Zoe Renee plays Kristy.
- In his feature-film debut, Jingyi Shao is writing and directing from a script he wrote that placed second on last year’s Blacklist.
- Brad Weston is producing along with Emmy award-winning Lena Waithe and Rishi Rajani of Hillman Grad productions.