Oscar Winners Viola Davis and Lupita Nyong’o Set to Star in The Woman King

TriStar Pictures has acquired the rights to The Woman King, starring Oscar winners Viola Davis and Lupita Nyong’o, as Deadline reports.

In the film, Davis will star as general Nanisca of the all-female military unit known as the Dahomey Amazons, with Nyong’o playing her daughter Nawi. Inspired by true events of the Kingdom of Dahomey, the two women will lead the all-female unit as they protect their tribe from invasion by the French as well as other tribes.

The project will be produced by Cathy Schulman of Welles Entertainment alongside Davis’s JuVee Productions. Maria Bello, who wrote the script, will also serve as a producer through Jack Blue Productions. TriStar’s Hannah Minghella and Nicole Brown will oversee the entire project.

No production start date or film release date has been announced. Both women have been on a roll lately, with Nyong’o securing a role and producer credit for the Born a Crime film adaptation along with the successes of Star Wars and Black Panther, not to mention the forthcoming Avengers: Infinity War. Davis is set to star in and produce a project based on Harriet Tubman, and also has the release of the Steve McQueen-helmed Widows to look forward to later this year.

With so much change going on in the industry, it’s nice to see two amazing talents come together to tell a mostly forgotten story.