Director Zhang Meng. [Photo provided to China Daily]

A Chinese remake of Everybody's Fine, a classic Italian drama from the 1990s, directed by well-known filmmaker Giuseppe Tornatore, will be released on Jan 1, according to its producers.

The Italian film depicts a retired Sicilian bureaucrat's "surprise visits" to the respective homes of his five adult children to check if they all are as happy as they claim.

The remake, titled Yiqie Douhao, directed by Zhang Meng, includes stars such as Zhang Guoli, Yao Chen and Shawn Dou, and introduces some issues common to parent-child relations in the country, with the aim of giving people family stories ahead of the Chinese New Year in February.