The concept of the upcoming movie surfaced when a photo of Rihanna and Nyong'o at a Miu Miu fashion show went viral online.
- May 23, 2017
AceShowbiz - Fans will finally see Rihanna and Lupita Nyong'o as buddies in one movie. Entertainment Weekly reports that Netflix has nabbed the untitled Rihanna / Lupita Nyong'o project after a "dramatic negotiation session" at the Cannes Film Festival.
The concept of the movie surfaced when a photo of Rihanna and Nyong'o at a Miu Miu fashion show went viral online, particularly on Twitter. A Twitter user called @1800SADGAL wrote, "Rihanna looks like she scams rich white men and lupita is the computer smart best friend that helps plan the scans." A massive number of users were cheered by the idea and later prompted calls for turning it into a movie.
A picture for the history books pic.twitter.com/OgxAGZMn4Z
— ash (@blaquepink) April 18, 2017
Rihanna looks like she scams rich white men and lupita is the computer smart best friend that helps plan the scans https://t.co/PhWs1xd3nj
— WHOOPHERASSKOURTNI (@1800SADGAL) April 18, 2017
The users even went as far as asking Ava DuVernay, "A Wrinkle in Time" helmer, to direct the potential flick. They also asked screenwriter Issa Rae to pen it. Thankfully, the four women soon responded to the requests, with Nyong'o tweeting, "I'm down if you are @rihanna" and Rihanna replying, "I'm in Pit'z." DuVernay and Rae also gave positive responses to the project.
I'm down if you are @rihanna https://t.co/vwHBWeCbFZ
— Lupita Nyong'o (@Lupita_Nyongo) April 21, 2017
I'm in Pit'z https://t.co/Kz0o3lBEmL
— Rihanna (@rihanna) April 23, 2017
Later on, reps for Rae told Vanity Fair that the original Twitter users who imagined the concept for this film would be credited and included in some form. Sources say Rae has started working on the script, with the studio eyeing a 2018 production start after DuVernay completes her current film.
@MikelleStreet @rihanna Lights set. Camera's up. Ready to call action for these #queens. 👑 pic.twitter.com/NVgqpFeTnu
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) April 24, 2017
@dvrrxll @rihanna pic.twitter.com/XG2WMribGJ
— Issa Rae (@IssaRae) April 23, 2017
Rihanna will next be seen in "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets" and "Ocean's Eight". Nyong'o, meanwhile, will reprise her role as Maz Kanata in "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" and will make an appearance in "Black Panther".