Lupita Nyong’o will star in the film adaptation of Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s bestselling-novel, Americanah, reports Deadline.
Nyong’o will also produce the film, along with Brad Pitt’s Plan B production company, which produced12 Years a Slave.
Americanah tells the epic love story of two Nigerians, Ifemelu and Obinze, as they journey through the immigrant experience in America and England. Adicihie has won several awards, including the 2013 National Book Critics Circle Award. Americanah was also selected as one of the “10 Best Books” of 2013 by The New York Times Book Review.
“It is such an honor to have the opportunity to bring Ms. Adichie’s brilliant book to the screen,” Nyong’o said in a statement. “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.”
There’s no word yet on when the film will begin shooting. Nyong’o was recently cast in Star Wars: Episode VII.