Trevor Noah, South African comedian and TV host, is set to produce a movie about Tanitoluwa Adewumi, an 8-year-old Nigerian refugee in the US, who went on to win the NY State Chess Championship.
According to Deadline, Paramount Pictures will be adapting the story of the chess prodigy, which would be co-produced by Noah’s Day Zero Productions.
Other producers connected to the project are Haroon Saleem, State Street Pictures’ George Tillman Jr. and Bob Teitel, and Mainstay Entertainment’s Norman Aladjem.
In March, the Tani, whose family had reportedly fled Nigeria for the US on account of the Boko Haram crisis, made the headlines after winning the 2019 New York chess championship while living in a homeless center on religious asylum.
A GoFundMe page was immediately established for him and a total of $254,448 was raised — which helped the chess prodigy and his family to move into an apartment.
The movie, which would be adapted from three yet-to-published books on the Adewumi family, would follow the story of a Nigerian household that escapes terrorism and sought asylum in New York, against all odds.
As the family is caught in the struggle to find a better life, their son’s accomplishments in the game of chess goes viral and the family’s story becomes an inspiration to many.
“It’s a story of love, peace, community, and faith, and 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.
The books are expected to be published in 2020.
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