Michelle Yeoh to star in "American-Born Chinese"

Coming to Disney: "Everything Everywhere All At Once" seems like a good way of describing the red-hot career of actress Michelle Yeoh ("Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings," 2021), but it's actually the title of her latest film, premiering this week at the SXSW Film Festival.

Yeoh, whose Hollywood career already spans more than three decades, is very much in demand right now. She recently appeared in Netflix's "Gunpowder Milkshake" (2021) and played a big role in "Star Trek: Discovery" (she's also attached to its much-delayed and still-in-development spinoff, "Section 31"). Her many upcoming projects include "The Witcher: Blood Origin," the four "Avatar" sequels, and the 2022 film adaptation of the YA novel "The School for Good and Evil."

Now, "American Born Chinese" can be added to that list.

Yeoh has joined the international cast of the Disney series. Based on the graphic novel by Gene Luen Yeng, "American Born Chinese" centers on teenager Jin Wang (Ben Wang, "MacGyver"). Jin's struggles at school go from bad to worse after he befriends new student Wei-Chen (former taekwondo champion Jim Liu) and is unwittingly entangled in a battle between Chinese mythological gods.

Yeoh stars as Guanyin, who guides her nephew Wei-Chen while maintaining her secret identity as the Buddhist bodhisattva of compassion. Other cast members include Daniel Wu ("Into the Badlands") as Sun Wukong, the Monkey King; Yeo Yann Yann ("Wet Season," 2019) as Jin's mom, Christine; Chin Han ("Mortal Kombat," 2021) as Jin's father, Simon; and Sydney Taylor ("Just Add Magic: Mystery City") as classmate Amelia.

The project reunites Yeoh with "Shang-Chi" director Destin Daniel Cretton, who is on board as director and executive producer. She'll also be reteaming with her "Everything Everwhere All At Once" co-star Ke Huy Quan (best known as Short Round in 1984's "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom"), who will play the role of Freddy Wong.

Oh boy: Fans of the time-traveling series "Quantum Leap" have been buzzing and speculating since last fall, when series star Scott Bakula ("NCIS: New Orleans") first revealed that "significant conversations" were "going on" at NBC about a possible reboot.

Those conversations have translated into action, because NBC greenlit a sequel pilot in January.

So far we know, "It's been 30 years since Dr. Sam Beckett (Bakula) stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished. Now a new team has been assembled to restart the project in the hopes of understanding the mysteries behind the machine and the man who created it" (per the official logline).

The real-life mystery is whether Bakula will reprise his role, but right now it doesn't seem likely. And despite it being hard to imagine "Quantum Leap" without Al (Dean Stockwell, "Blue Velvet," 1986) and his ever-present cigar, Stockwell's death last fall means he won't be a part of the reboot, either. As a result, many believe this new project, which seems destined for streaming on Peacock, will build off the ideas presented in the original series instead of continuing Sam's story.

Original series creator/executive producer Don Bellisario is back as an executive producer, alongside executive producer/co-narrator Deborah Pratt ("Airwolf"). Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt (both of "La Brea") are attached as showrunners, and Helen Shaver ("Station Eleven"), who recently joined the creative team, will direct the pilot.

Team up: "Avengers: Endgame" (2019) co-stars Brie Larson and Jeremy Renner are both working with Disney on new unscripted series, but know that their projects have nothing to do with the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Larson is behind the new "hybrid" docuseries "Growing Up," which "explores the challenges, triumphs and complexities of adolescence through 10 compelling coming-of-age stories."

What makes it a hybrid? Each 30-minute episode features different filmmaking styles -- documentary, experimental and narrative – that help tell the story of one (casted) individual aged 18-22. Through these cinematic re-enactments, and the deeply personal interviews that set the tone for each episode, "Growing Up" aims to offer a wide-ranging look at the life experiences and the obstacles faced by modern teens on their path to self-discovery and acceptance.

The docuseries will features episodes directed by Larson, as well as Elegance Bratton ("Buck," 2020), Ashley Eakin ("Single," 2020), Sydney Freeland ("Drunktown's Finest," 2014), Ekwa Msangi ("Farewell Amor," 2020) and Rudy Valdez ("The Sentence," 2018), among many others. No official release date has been announced.

Renner, meanwhile, is behind (and fronting) a new unscripted series that seemingly reflects the actor's personal interest in construction projects. Disney describes "Rennervations" as "an original four-part series that embraces Jeremy's lifelong passion for giving back to communities around the world, by reimagining unique purpose-built vehicles to meet a community's needs."

In a statement released during the Television Critics Association's Winter Press Tour, Disney explained how Renner is a natural fit for this kind of a show: "Behind the big screen, Jeremy is a construction aficionado. He is heavily invested in the highly creative fabricator culture that exists across the globe and hopes to change lives with these skills and inspire others to do the same."