Will Smith and David Oyelowo to Produce Nigerian Story for Netflix
Will Smith’s Westbrook Studios and David Oyelowo’s Yoruba Saxon have partnered with Netflix to produce the film adaptation of “Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun.”
Based on the upcoming book by British-Nigerian author, journalist and hair care educator Tọlá Okogwu, “Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun” tells the tale of a teenager who learns she has powers and travels to Nigeria to learn more about her origins, where she discovers a threat to her newfound magical community.
Described as “Black Panther” meets “X-Men” or “Percy Jackson,” the book is the first in an action-packed series for middle-grade children and will be published by Simon & Schuster in the U.S. and U.K. this June. Okogwu is represented by CAA and Claire Wilson at RCW Literary Agency.
Ola Shokunbi is set to write the film adaptation after helping to bring “Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun” to Netflix. The project is produced by Smith and Jon Mone, Westbrook Studios’ co-president of film, and Oyelowo on behalf of Yoruba Saxon. Executive producers are Westbrook Studios’ Heather Washington and Yoruba Saxon’s Jessica Oyelowo.
In addition to “Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun,” Shokunbi also has the upcoming geo-political sci-fi thriller “Satellite” set up at Netflix. The filmmaker on the rise wrote that film, which has Kiri Hart and Stephen Feder producing for Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman’s T-Street, alongside President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s production company, Higher Ground. Shokunbi’s heist thriller script “Indigo” was also featured on 2021’s Black List, and this summer, he will make his directorial debut with “A Yellow Heaven,” an autobiographical feature based on his own screenplay. Shokunbi is represented by CAA and Patrick Ragen at Ziffren Brittenham LLP.
