Americanah from Danai Gurira and Lupita Nyong’o is no longer happening at HBO Max.

The series was set to star Nyong’o, Uzo Aduba, Corey Hawkins, Zackary Momoh, and Tireni Oyenusi. It was a long-time passion project for Nyong’o, who optioned it years ago and tapped Gurira to write. It initially going to star in a feature film with David Oyelowo but it was later as a series, with HBO Max picking it up. It is based on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s best-selling novel of the same name. Danai Gurira was set as showrunner and wrote the pilot. Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment was among the producers. Chinonye Chukwu was going to direct the first 2 episodes.

According to Variety, the project’s start dates got pushed back due to the pandemic. A source told the publication that Nyong’o had to drop out as the series conflicted with other projects on her schedule.

Here’s the description: Americanah tells the story of Ifemelu (Nyong’o), a young, beautiful, self-assured woman raised in Nigeria, who as a teenager falls in love with her classmate Obinze. Living in a military-ruled country, they each depart for the west, with Ifemelu heading for America, where, despite her academic success, she is forced to grapple for the first time with what it means to be Black. Quiet, thoughtful Obinze had hoped to join her, but with post-9/11 America closed to him, he instead plunges into a dangerous undocumented life in London. A highly lauded tale that has become a leader in the cultural conversation, Americanah is an incredible exploration of the human experience that crosses three continents to give an empathetic, compelling view of the complex realities of race, politics, immigration and identity.

Americanah is just the latest series to not go forward due to production impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

 

READ MORE:

Chinonye Chukwu To Direct First 2 Episodes Of ‘Americanah’ Starring Lupita Nyong’o

 

Photo: Getty Images