Lupita Nyong'o to star in 'Born A Crime' based on Trevor Noah's memoir
EXCLUSIVE: Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o, currently starring as Nakia in Disney/Marvel’s record-smashing, watershed hit Black Panther, has signed on to star in Born a Crime, the film adaptation of The Daily Show host Trevor Noah’s bestselling debut autobiography Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood.
Nyong’o will play Noah’s mom, Patricia, who served as an important figure to her son in his formative years. She was shot in the head by his stepfather while returning from a church service in 2009, but survived.
Noah is producing the project through his Ark Angel Productions alongside Norman Aladjem, Derek Van Pelt and Sanaz Yamin of Mainstay Entertainment, and Nyong’o.
Released in 2016, the book has spent 26 weeks on the bestseller list and has won the James Thurber Prize for American Humor and two NAACP Image Awards. Spiegel & Grau, the imprint that published Noah’s first book, has bought his untitled follow-up memoir, which will be published by Random House on November 13.
Nyong’o, who earned an Oscar for her performance in 12 Years a Slave, up next stars in Abe Forsythe’s Australian zombie comedy Little Monsters, and is set to produce and star in the onscreen adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s bestseller Americanah, which has her Black Panther co-star Danai Gurira penning the script.
Nyong’o is repped by CAA and Del Shaw, while Noah is with CAA, Mainstay Entertainment and Hansen, Jacobson.
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