Seizing her new-found status with both hands, 12 Years A Slave actress Lupita Nyong'o has not only signed on for Star Wars: Episode VII, but also set in motion a passion project for which she'll produce and head the cast. Jumping in with Brad Pitt's Plan B production company, she's secured the rights to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's novel Americanah.
Adichie's most recent book (following the bestsellers Purple Hibiscus, That Thing Around Your Neck and Half Of A Yellow Sun), Americanah was listed as one of the New York Times' ten best books of 2013, won the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction, and was shortlisted for this year's Bailieys Women's Prize For Fiction.
It's the story of Ifemelu, her early life in Nigeria, her expatriate experience working in America, and her later return to her home country. It's also a love story between Ifemelu and Obinze, who she leaves behind in Nigeria while she embarks on her odyssey through American class politics. And it's a story about Ifemelu's changing hair styles...
"It is such an honor to have the opportunity to bring Ms. Adichie's brilliant book to the screen," says Nyong'o. "Page after page I was struck by Ifemelu and Obinze's stories, whose experiences as African immigrants are so specific and also so imminently relatable. It is a thrilling challenge to tell a truly international story so full of love, humor and heart."
Potboiler Productions and D2 Productions are also in the behind-the-scenes mix with Plan B, but there's no director or start date so far.
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