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Lupita Nyong'o to star in, produce a movie adaptation of 'Americanah'

Nyong'o said the book is 'full of love, humor, and heart.'

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Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
Lupita Nyong'o will reportedly star in a movie adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's novel 'Americanah.'
  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

“12 Years a Slave” actress Lupita Nyong’o will reportedly star in and produce a movie adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel “Americanah.”

“Americanah” was published in 2013 and follows a Nigerian teenager named Ifemelu who goes to live in America while Obinze, with whom Ifemelu had fallen in love in Nigeria, travels to London to try to make a life there as an undocumented immigrant.

“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.”

Barnes & Noble critic Steven G. Kellman wrote that “Americanah” is “sudsy” but has “trenchant observations about social distinctions in not just one country, the United States, but Britain and Nigeria as well.”

Nyong’o recently joined the cast of the upcoming “Star Wars” film and won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in the 2013 movie “12 Years a Slave.” 

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