Lupita Nyong’o is finally getting a chance to follow-up her Oscar-winning performance in 12 Years A Slave with a role that will put her face in front of the camera. The talented star is in talks for a sci-fi thriller called Intelligent Life.
The news was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter. The project already has Selma director Ava DuVernay interested in directing and was written by Jurassic World’s Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly. Frank Marshall and Trevorrow will produce under Big Beach at Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment.
Nyong’o is in talks to play a woman who is actually an alien. A U.N. worker ends up falling in love with the character. It was originally titled The Ambassador.
Nyong’o gave a heartbreaking performance in Steve McQueen’s 12 Years A Slave, but since then, Hollywood hasn’t been able to find much for her to do. She had a motion-capture role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and provides the voice of an animal in The Jungle Book. She did star in the Liam Neeson actioner Non-Stop and is also working on Disney’s Queen of Katwe with David Oyelowo.
As for DuVernay, she passed on Marvel’s Black Panther. Disney still wants to work with her though, and have asked her to helm A Wrinkle In Time.