Her role as a diminutive alien with mysterious powers was one of the more controversial aspects of space opera blockbuster Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Now Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o looks set to step into futuristic territory again, after entering talks to play a mysterious woman who turns out to be an extraterrestrial in the science-fiction thriller Intelligent Life.
The currently red-hot director of civil rights period drama Selma, Ava DuVernay, is being tipped to direct from a screenplay by Jurassic World’s Colin Trevorrow and writing partner Derek Connolly, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The project is being set up at Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment, with Trevorrow and fellow Jurassic World alumnus Frank Marshall also set to produce.
Intelligent Life is based on an earlier project titled The Ambassador, about a United Nations department set up to provide first contact in the event of the discovery of alien life. The lead character falls in love with an enigmatic woman, due to be played by Nyong’o, only to discover that she is an alien.
DuVernay is said to be top of the producers’ wishlist, though Variety reports she has not yet been offered the job. The acclaimed film-maker is also reported to be circling Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time, a second science-fiction project, this time based on Madeleine L’Engle’s classic children’s novel. However, it might prove possible for her to shoot both films.
Intelligent Life is said to be similar in tone to Trevorrow’s breakthrough film, the indie time-travel comedy Safety Not Guaranteed, though it appears the screenwriters have been working to rewrite The Ambassador as a more ambitious project, in the wake of Jurassic World’s box-office triumph last year. Trevorrow, who will also direct Star Wars: Episode IX, is now considered a major Hollywood player, with access to the kind of bountiful funding needed for big budget film-making.
Mexican-Kenyan actor Nyong’o entered the public consciousness in 2013 after winning the best supporting actress Oscar for her turn as a slave in Steve McQueen’s period race drama 12 Years a Slave. As well as Star Wars, she voices the female wolf Raksha in Disney’s forthcoming live-action remake of classic 1967 animated musical The Jungle Book, and will play the mother of a Ugandan chess prodigy in the same studio’s true life-inspired The Queen of Katwe.
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