Paramount Pictures has acquired the rights to produce the story of 8-year-old Nigerian chess prodigy Tanitoluwa Adewumi. Also, attached to the story of the chess prodigy is South African comedian and The Daily Show host Trevor Noah.
Tani’s story
Adewumi and his family were living in a homeless shelter after arriving in the United States after fleeing the extremist group Boko Haram in Nigeria. The 8-year-old won the 2019 New York Chess Championship. Amazingly, he only started playing the game two years earlier.
W Publishing plans to publish and release the story of the Adewumi family in a set of three books in the spring of 2020. Also, the books will form the foundation of the film’s script.
“It’s a story of love, peace, community, and faith. It is about the lengths parents will go to bring their family to safety and provide them a better life. Tani’s accomplishment went viral and the family’s story became an inspiration to many,” the report highlights.
Earlier this year, a GoFundMe page was established for Adewumi. A total of $254,448 was raised and allowed him and his family to move into an apartment. “It’s a wonderful day because God made it happen,” Tani’s dad Kayode Adewumi told NBC News 4 at the time.
The film production
Paramount Pictures will be adapting the story of the little genius. Day Zero Productions, a company Trevor Noah is part of, is co-producing the story of the chess prodigy.
Other producers attached to the project include Haroon Saleem, State Street Pictures’ George Tillman Jr. and Bob Teitel, and Mainstay Entertainment’s Norman Aladjem.
Noah and his Day Zero partner Saleem are already conducting business with Aladjem’s Mainstay Entertainment on an adaptation of Noah’s book. Noah wrote his best-selling memoir “Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood” in 2016. Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o will star in the film adaption.
Day Zero and Mainstay are in preparation for Noah’s untitled series for Quibi, in which he will star in and produce.
