*Sanaa Lathan will make her feature directorial debut with “On the Come Up,” an adaptation of the best-selling novel of the same name by Angie Thomas.
Per Deadline, “The feature project has been a priority for Paramount Players and they were impressed with Lathan’s vision for the film.”
The book’s official description reads:
Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least win her first battle. As the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri’s got massive shoes to fill. But it’s hard to get your come up when you’re labeled a hoodlum at school, and your fridge at home is empty after your mom loses her job. So Bri pours her anger and frustration into her first song, which goes viral…for all the wrong reasons.
Bri soon finds herself at the center of a controversy, portrayed by the media as more menace than MC. But with an eviction notice staring her family down, Bri doesn’t just want to make it—she has to. Even if it means becoming the very thing the public has made her out to be.
READ MORE: Sanaa Lathan Says She Was ‘Miserable’ Working on ‘Love & Basketball’ [VIDEO]
This right here! ???? https://t.co/SOzDVQr3Vw
— Sanaa Lathan (@justsanaa) June 11, 2021
Thomas’ acclaimed novel, “The Hate U Give,” was adapted into a feature film directed by George Tillman Jr. in 2018 via Fox 2000.
Here’s more from Shadow and Act:
On the Come Up was also supposed to be released through Fox 2000 before the banner was shuttered after the Disney-Fox acquisition. Tillman was also initially attached to direct On the Come Up. It then shifted to Wanuri Kahiu, who had to pull out due to a scheduling conflict.
Meanwhile, Lathan is set to appear in the third season of Succession on HBO. She’ll also star in the Netflix series “Hit & Run.”
The actress previously revealed opened up about the Black woman’s struggle in Hollywood and the mistreatment she has experienced from her peers.
“Just coming up in the business, I have been treated just horribly by some women that you may know,” she said at the 2018 premiere of her Netflix film “Nappily Ever After.”
“I won’t call any names,” she continued, “but when you’re working with somebody who’s maybe a little older than you — now I’m the older one — you don’t expect to get competition, and jealousy, and weird vibes on set. And I was very hurt, very early on in my career by a couple of different women.”
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