2018 Taiwanese Hana Yori Dango Remake Cast, Filipino Adaptation Announced

This week has been a big week for fans of Yoko Kamio's Hana Yori Dango as the cast of the 2018 Taiwanese remake of the drama was unveiled to the public and a Filipino adaptation of the series was announced. 

​Adapted in Taiwan as Meteor Garden, the 2018 remake stars newcomer Shen Yue as Shan Cai (Tsukushi Makino), Dylan Wang as Dao Ming Si (Tsukasa Domyouji), Darren Chen as Hua Ze Lei (Rui Hanazawa), Caesar Wu as Xi Men (Soujiro Nishikado), and Connor Leong as Mei Zuo (Akira Mimasaka). 

Series creator Angie Chai has been working on the remake since last year and even held auditions in Taipei, Hong Kong, Singapore, Los Angeles, and China. As for the F4 members, they were first unveiled on the cover of Harper's Bazaar magazine and was billed as the "youngest and tallest" of all the F4 groups. These four were chosen for their "likeable personalities" and described as a mix of "warm and bright persona with hints of playfulness, stylish appearance, and versatile individuality."

The upcoming Meteor Garden remake is set to premiere in 2018 and is reported to have a budget NT$720 million or NT$15 million per episode, which is 30 times larger than the original 2001 TV series. The Philippines' ABS-CBN is the one of the first networks overseas that acquired the show's rights. 

Speaking of the Philippines, it was reported that the Philippines' GMA Network will adapt the series in cooperation with JU Entertainment and will be based on the manga's Korean drama adaptation, Boys Over Flowers. Auditions for the show's cast are open to all who are under GMA's contract and to aspiring young talents. 

Other details such as the show's premiere are yet to be announced. 

[Source: ABS-CBN News (link 2), GMA News Online]