Memes really do come true. Netflix has leapt at the opportunity to produce a buddy film starring Lupita Nyong’o and Rihanna, inspired by some twitter commentary and Tumblr art. The film pitch went viral on Twitter after the two were photographed together at a Miu Miu fashion show in 2014.
Studios duked it out at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival for the rights to the project and Netflix took the victory. The original concept was for a heist movie, where Rihanna is the action star and Nyong’o is the brains behind the operation.
Here’s how it all went came together:
A picture for the history books pic.twitter.com/OgxAGZMn4Z
— ash (@blaquepink) April 18, 2017
Rihanna looks like she scams rich white men and lupita is the computer smart best friend that helps plan the scans https://t.co/PhWs1xd3nj
— WHOOPHERASSKOURTNI (@1800SADGAL) April 18, 2017
I’m down if you are @rihanna https://t.co/vwHBWeCbFZ
— Lupita Nyong’o (@Lupita_Nyongo) April 21, 2017
I’m in Pit’z https://t.co/Kz0o3lBEmL
— Rihanna (@rihanna) April 23, 2017
@MikelleStreet @rihanna Lights set. Camera’s up. Ready to call action for these #queens. ? pic.twitter.com/NVgqpFeTnu
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) April 24, 2017
@dvrrxll @rihanna pic.twitter.com/XG2WMribGJ
— Issa Rae (@IssaRae) April 23, 2017
After the two stars had expressed interest via Twitter, 13th director Ava DuVernay jumped on board, as did the writer of HBO Comedy Insecure, Issa Rae. Rae’s representatives have confirmed that “the original Twitter users who imagined the concept for this film will be credited and included in some form.” We are pretty sure, this is the best thing Twitter has ever done for us.
We’re looking forward to a 2018 release for this incredible collaboration.