After a picture of the two celebrities went viral on Twitter last month, Netflix is reportedly bringing together Grammy-winning singer Rihanna and Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong'o to co-star in a new film. Sources told Entertainment Weekly that Selma director Ava DuVernay will helm the project, while Issa Rae, the creator of HBO's Insecure, is in talks to write the screenplay.
Fans clamored for a film uniting Rihanna and Nyong'o after this picture, taken at a fashion show in 2014, took Twitter by storm:
Twitter users conjured storylines and characters based on the snapshot and even suggested directors and writers who could lead the project. Entertainment Weekly reported that a potential film based off the photo sparked a contentious bidding war at the Cannes Film Festival, with Netflix eventually winning out with a "very aggressive bid."
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Netflix did not comment to Entertainment Weekly about the rumored project, but both Rihanna and Nyong'o have voiced their support for the idea on Twitter before, as have DuVernay and Rae. Production would reportedly start in 2018, after DuVernay's current project, A Wrinkle in Time, is complete.