MPHO RANTAO
AFTER news of a series adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah coming to television screens hit social media in 2019, HBO Max has announced that they have scrapped the project.
The news comes after the announcement by Variety that one of the show’s producers, Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o was forced to leave the project due to conflicting schedules and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The Americanah novel by Ngozi Adichie tells the tale of a young Nigerian woman named Ifemelu, who immigrated to the United States to attend university before her subsequent return to the Nigerian capital of Lagos while dealing with issues of love and identity.
The novel earned Adichie the 2013 U.S. National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction.
The Americanah series earned a 10-episode straight-to-series order by HBO Max back in 2019 with Nyong’o and Gurira at the helm.
The two actresses planned to start filming earlier this year but were postponed by the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Both Nyong’o and fellow co-producer actress Danai Gurira were set to serve as the executive producers on the show, with Nyong’o also starring as the main character, and Gurira writing and serving as the showrunner.
Nyong’o was also set to star alongside actors Uzo Aduba, David Oyelowo, Corey Hawkins, Zackary Momoh, and Tireni Oyenusi.
