Fresh off the success of Marvel Studio’s blockbuster smash hit Black Panther, two of the film’s stars are reuniting to work on yet another project.
Four years ago Lupita Nyong’o announced she’d acquired the film rights to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s critically acclaimed novel, Americanah, and would be bringing it to the big screen. The book follows “two young Nigerian immigrants, Ifemelu and Obinze, who face a lifetime of struggle while their love story endures,” and Nyong’o said she was producing and starring in the project.
A few months after the initial announcement, Selma star David Oyelowo was cast in the film to play Obinze, and fans became excited about the prospect of seeing the two Queen of Katwe principals work together again.
Since the initial flurry of news, however, there hasn’t been much talk about the screen adaptation of Americanah until now.
According to pop culture site Konbini, Danai Gurira has signed on to write the script for Americanah, which is in development as a miniseries, not a film. It also marks the third time the pair will link up.
In addition to acting, Gurira is an award-winning playwright whose last production, Eclipsed, ran on Broadway and resulted in a Tony nomination for Nyong’o who started in the play.
The news that Nyong’o and Gurira are coming back together for Americanah excited many of the book’s fans.
Americanah isn’t the only book-to-screen project Nyong’o has in the works. Recently she signed on to produce and star in the film adaptation of Trevor Noah’s best-selling memoir, Born A Crime.
