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Lupita Nyong’o and Danai Gurira’s long-awaited adaptation of Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has reportedly been scrapped by HBO Max due to the pandemic.
Variety reports that the show was dropped by the streamer after scheduling conflicts due to COVID-19 concerns forced Lupita to exit the project.
The show had received a ten-episode straight-to-series order at HBO Max in 2019 following years of adaptation talks.
The series planned to start shooting earlier this year with Lupita and Gurira serving as executive producers - Lupita starring and Gurira writing - but was set back by the coronavirus pandemic. The show's production dates were then pushed back, ultimately conflicting with shooting schedules for Lupita’s other projects.
Lupita was to star in the series as Ifemelu, a Nigerian blogger who writes about race and her experience as a Black person in America.
Lupita and Gurira have been a dream team since Gurira’s 2016 play Eclipsed and had their peak co-starring in the Marvel blockbuster Black Panther two years later.
Americanah joins a host of women-led TV shows that have gotten the axe as a result of COVID-19. Others are Hulu’s High Fidelity and Netflix’s GLOW, Altered Carbon, The Society and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina among other female-led shows.
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