‘Brother Orange’ Movie: Ellen DeGeneres Joins BuzzFeed, Broad City’s Ilana Glazer For Film On Lost Phone Saga

Ellen DeGeneres and BuzzFeed are set to work together on a film based on the story of internet phenomenon, Brother Orange. DeGeneres will be an executive producer for the venture, along with ‘Broad City’ co-creator and star, Ilana Glazer.

BuzzFeed editor Matt Stopera got his iPhone stolen in 2014, leading to a series of unexpected events. Almost a year after the theft, mysterious pictures started appearing in his photostream— particularly a series of a Chinese man in front of an orange tree. Stopera posted an article on BuzzFeed regarding the odd nature of the matter that went viral on China’s alternative to Twitter — Weibo. Becoming a sort of internet sensation in the country, he then travelled to China to meet “Brother Orange.”

“Brother Orange,” or Li Hongjun, returned the visit by flying to the United States, where both of them appeared on DeGeneres’ talk show.

The story will be based on “an unlikely, accidental friendship that transcended cultural divides,” reported Hollywood Reporter.

Stopera will join DeGeneres as one of the executive producers for the joint venture between Warner Bros. and China Media Capital— Flagship Entertainment, according to Hollywood Reporter. Flagship is an attempt by Warner Bros. to tap the massive Chinese market.

Michael Shamberg— veteran producer for projects like "Pulp Fiction" and "Erin Brockovich" — and Matthew Henick, head of development at BuzzFeed Motion Pictures, will reportedly produce the first film project from BFMP, the video branch of BuzzFeed.