Lupita Nyong’o and Brad Pitt will be reunited once more as the 12 Years a Slave stars combine on ‘Americanah’, an adaptation of Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's acclaimed novel of the same name. Nyong’o will star and produce, while Brad Pitt’s Plan B - the company behind the Oscar-winning slave drama - will make the film.

Lupita NyongoLupita Nyong'o with her Oscar

Adichie's book is certainly ripe for adaptation; it won the 2013 US National Book Critics Circle award for fiction and was named one of the 10 best books of the year by The New York Times Book Review, the BBC and Newsday. Adichie is the 36-year-old author of Purple Hibiscus and Half of a Yellow Sun, which has also recently been made into a film.

The story follows a pair of young Nigerians, Ifemelu and Obinze. Having fallen deeply in love with one another, they are separated. Determined to be together once more and to escape the military dictatorship under which they live, they attempt new lives, but continue to face estrangement because of America’s strict post-9/11 immigration laws. 

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A statement released by Nyong'o reads: "It is such an honor to have the opportunity to bring Ms. Adichie's brilliant book to the screen. Page after page, I was struck by (lead characters) 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."

Nyong’o has recently been confirmed for the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII reboot and is set to star in ‘The Jungle Book’ in a voice-only role in 2015. She’s also playing the character of Angela Rivera in Antione Fuqua’s ‘Southpaw’

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