Netflix to Make Movie With Lupita Nyong'o and Rihanna Following Viral Photo
Netflix heeded the netizens' requests and will make a movie starring Rihanna and Lupita Nyong'o, a number of reports said.
Earlier this week, Entertainment Weekly's sources confirmed that Netflix fought hard to outbid "multiple other suitors" to make a movie that was originally conceptualized by thousands of social media users after a photo of Rihanna and Nyong'o went incredibly viral.
The photo of Rihanna and Nyong'o was taken when they sat alongside each other to witness the Miu Miu fashion show in 2014.
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The photo was initially posted on Tumblr a couple of years ago. It then resurfaced and got even more attention when a netizen brought it to Twitter and said the Grammy-winning artist "looks like she scams rich white men," while the Academy Award-winning actress is a computer geek best friend who helps her plan and carry out the scam.
Thousands of Twitter users could not agree more, and as of writing, the photo already got more than 212,000 likes on Twitter and over 488,000 notes on Tumblr.
The photo went so viral that it also caught the attention of Nyong'o and Rihanna. Last month, the former mentioned Rihanna in a tweet where she said, "I'm down if you are." Rihanna sent out an affirmative response few days after.
People in social media were so dedicated to make the movie become a reality that they tapped Ava DuVernay and Issa Rae to be part of the production. Interestingly enough, Entertainment Weekly reported that DuVernay was in fact enlisted to helm the film while Rae will write the screenplay.
And the netizen's efforts will not go to waste. Rae's team told Vanity Fair that the Twitter users who originally came up with the idea to tap the writer in making the film "will be credited and included in some form."
While Netflix is yet to confirm or announce the movie, DuVernay let out a hint that the reports are accurate. Since the film was practically conceived through Twitter, news about it was filed under movies for Twitter Moments — which was retweeted by DuVernay as she said, "We deserve nice things."
