Eclipsed Tony Nominees Lupita Nyong'o & Liesl Tommy to Reunite for Film Adaptation of Trevor Noah's Born a Crime

Tony-nominated Eclipsed director Liesl Tommy has signed on to direct a movie adaptation of Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, the best-selling memoir of political commentator and TV host Trevor Noah. Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o—a Tony nominee for her Broadway debut in Eclipsed—will play Noah's mother in the film about his upbringing as a mixed-race young man in post-apartheid South Africa. The screen project will reunite Nyong'o with Broadway director Tommy.

Nyong'o is an Oscar winner for 12 Years a Slave whose screen credits also include Black Panther and Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens. Tommy, who also made her Broadway debut with Eclipsed, has directed stage works including Antigone Project, The Good Negro, Appropriate, Party People, Kid Victory and the recent off-Broadway play Relevance. 

Additional casting and a release date for Born a Crime will be announced at a later time.