This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost Australia, which closed in 2021.

Rihanna And Lupita Nyong'o Are Officially Making A Film With Ava DuVernay

Rihanna And Lupita Nyong'o Are Officially Making A Film With Ava DuVernay
Rihanna and Lupita Nyong'o attend the Miu Miu show during Paris Fashion Week on March 5, 2014.
Pascal Le Segretain via Getty Images
Rihanna and Lupita Nyong'o attend the Miu Miu show during Paris Fashion Week on March 5, 2014.
Rihanna and Lupita Nyong'o attend the Miu Miu show during Paris Fashion Week on March 5, 2014.
Pascal Le Segretain via Getty Images
Rihanna and Lupita Nyong'o attend the Miu Miu show during Paris Fashion Week on March 5, 2014.

It all started with a tweet.

The Rihanna and Lupita Nyong’o movie dreamt up by Twitter users and propelled to viral fame is set to become a reality. Netflix nabbed the rights in “a very aggressive bid” at the Cannes Film Festival, Entertainment Weekly reported.

Back in April, @blaquepink shared an iconic 2014 photo of Rihanna and Nyong’o seated together at Paris Fashion Week.

User @1800SADGAL responded that the pair looked like the perfect duo.

And thus a movie idea was born. Rihanna and Nyong’o were game.

Ava DuVernay will direct and Issa Rae is set to write, according to EW. DuVernay and Rae were also recruited by determined Twitter users.

“I really think it shows the power of people wanting to see stories that are women-centered, women of color-centered that are made by women of color,” DuVernay told TIME last month. “I think it was really interesting that after Rihanna and Lupita were in the picture and the story went viral, it wasn’t about who’s the male lead or who’s the sidekick, it was about who’s going to write it? Who’s going to direct it?”

“I think that is really interesting about people’s interest in who’s creating and who’s telling the story and especially on Twitter where everyone is telling their own story,” she continued. “We’ll see what happens.”

Reps for Rae told Vanity Fair that the Twitter users who came up with the idea “will be credited and included in some form.”

Needless to say, everyone is pretty excited.

This article has been updated with info from Issa Rae’s team.

Close
This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost Australia. Certain site features have been disabled. If you have questions or concerns, please check our FAQ or contact support@huffpost.com.