With critical successes like the period drama Belle and Beyond the Lights—often referred to as this generation’s Love & Basketball—under her belt, Gugu Mbatha-Raw continues to shine with her latest project. The actress, who recently appeared in Concussion alongside Will Smith, is reuniting with Beyond the Lights and Love & Basketball director Gina Prince-Bythewood.
According to Deadline, the two are attached to An Untamed State, the big screen adaptation of the novel by Roxane Gay. Gay and Prince-Bythewood will co-write the script for Fox Searchlight and Mbatha-Raw is set to star. The story follows a Haitian-American woman who is abducted in front of her husband and child for ransom. The novel is said to explore the privilege that made her a viable target for the kidnappers, as well as her fight for survival.
In the wake of a call for greater diversity in Hollywood, this is just one of several films centering on unique black experiences. Selma director Ava DuVernay is tackling the Battle of Versailles, a film about a historic fashion show which featured a record number of African-American models. Elsewhere, singer Janelle Monae and Empire star Taraji P. Henson have signed on to star in a film about the awesome black female mathematicians who helped NASA’s launch it first successful shuttles.
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