African Warrior Queen Drama in the Works at Starz

I see you Starz.

Well now, this should be interesting and is about damn time! ~ V

Yetide Badaki will star in ‘Queen Nzinga’ and executive produce with Mo Abudu and Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson.

Starz and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson are continuing their partnership with a drama project about a 17th century African warrior queen.

The premium cable outlet and Lionsagte TV are developing Queen Nzinga, which tells the story of an innocent princess in 17th century Angola who transforms into a fearless warrior queen and wages a ferocious 40-year guerrilla war against the kingdom’s formidable enemies and the cruel subjugation of her people by Portuguese slavers.

Nzinga would come to sacrifice everything to defend her people’s dignity, liberty and freedom. On seizing the crown, Nzinga, the first-ever female ruler, decreed “Call me king.”

Yetide Badaki (Starz’s American Gods) will star as Nzinga and executive produce alongside Mo Abudu (The Wedding Party), Jackson (Starz’s Power franchise, BMF) and Steven S. DeKnight (Daredevil). A search for a showrunner is underway.

It has been a long held dream of mine to bring the story of Nzinga to the screen. Her courage, determination and passion resonated from the moment I laid eyes on historical depictions of the legendary queen.

I am thrilled by Starz’s continued commitment to much needed stories about and by historically excluded voices and the deeply talented team being built to share this epic narrative with the world.

~ Yetide Badaki