Recently, it was announced that WarnerMedia was going to launch the studio’s highly-anticipated streaming service HBO Max in 2020. And since this service will compete against the likes of Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Amazon, and Apple TV+, it’s clear that the studio would have to work on filling out its schedule with quality original programming. It appears that the upcoming “Americanah” is poised to be one of the best dramas the service will offer.
Today, HBO Max and WarnerMedia announced that the streaming service has ordered a 10-episode season of “Americanah.” The series, which is based on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s best-selling novel, follows an Ethiopian woman that comes to America and finds adventures in love, heartache, adversity, and self-discovery.
While the premise and source material is enough to get you excited, “Americanah” has some incredible talent attached, as well. Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o has been named the star of the series. And Danai Gurira, best known for her roles in “Black Panther” and “The Walking Dead,” is on board to write the pilot episode and showrun the series. In addition to acting, Gurira is a Tony Award-nominated writer.
“Through ‘Americanah,’ Chimamanda brought the African female voice into mainstream consciousness in an unprecedented way,” said Gurira. “It is intellectually incisive, indicting, yet full of humor, and riddled with humanity. She makes unheard voices familiar, universal and yet palpably specific.”
She continued, “I am honored to bring her incredible novel to life on the screen. I’m thrilled to collaborate once again with Lupita who brings her astounding ability as a performer and producer shepherding this project, along with HBO MAX’s unbridled enthusiasm to bring this groundbreaking narrative to the TV audience.”
“‘Americanah’ has been a passion project for me since I read Chimamanda’s beautiful novel in 2013,” Nyong’o said. “It’s a tale that is simultaneously timely and timeless. HBO Max is the perfect partner to bring this profound and celebrated story to life, and I’m thrilled that Danai will bring to the project her intelligence, wit, and understanding of the stories and the worlds of ‘Americanah.’”
No word on when we might see “Americanah” hit TV screens, but it’s likely going to be a while, as HBO Max has yet to even launch and isn’t scheduled to do so until 2020.