Two Black Hollywood starlets are teaming up: Star Wars: The Last Jedi’s John Boyega and Black Panther’s Letitia Wright have signed on to play a pair of futuristic star-crossed lovers in an adaptation of the science-fiction novel, Hold Back The Stars.
Written by Katie Khan, the story follows a man and a woman as they share haunting remembrances of the love affair they shared on an idealistic version of Earth while they are trapped in outer space with only 90 minutes of oxygen left. Mike Cahill will be directing the film, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Wright shared how she happy she was to be working with her future co-star on Instagram.
“Excited to create this with you @johnboyega Hold Back the Stars,” she wrote in a caption.
For his part, Boyega expressed his admiration for Wright by writing on Instagram, “Truly honoured to be a part of this project alongside my friend @letitiawright ! A love story with a powerful message.”
Boyega and Wright have been friends for a while. The two even went to the same school, London’s Identity School of Acting, which was founded by a British agent, Femi Oguns.
Previously, the Star Wars actor told The Grio how tight their friendship was, noting that they’d often chill together after classes and daydream about superstardom together.
“Letitia and I were in the same class,” he explained. “We would sit and after classes, everybody would congregate at a nearby McDonald’s and I remember seeing Letitia and we would speak about our dreams and our visions.”
Science-fiction films are often criticized for leaving Black people out of the camera’s lens, but with Boyega and Wright at the helm, it looks like change is coming at the speed of light.
