Shutterstock
Black girls rejoice.
Codeblack is moving forward with Omar Tyree’s Flyy Girl movie trilogy that includes follow-up novels For The Love of Money and Boss Lady, and our beloved Sanaa Lathan is at the helm of the venture.
Wednesday, the Lionsgate-affiliated film company, announced that Lathan snagged the leading role as the iconic novel’s protagonist Tracy Ellison. The Perfect Guy actress will also serve as an executive producer for the project.
“I’m pleased to executive produce and star in Lionsgate and Codeblack’s incredible adaptation of Omar Tyree’s iconic Flyy Girl trilogy,” the beauty said in a statement. “So many people have grown up on this series and I’m looking forward to bringing Tracy Ellison’s story to life through film. It’s my hope to continue to help bring diverse stories to the big screen.”
We’ve been hearing whispers about a Flyy Girl movie for years now, but some pretty big names are being dropped, which makes us hopeful that this version of the project will actually come to fruition. According to Variety, Dear White People producer Effie Brown has been hired to produce the project and Academy Award-winning screenwriter, Geoffrey Fletcher, who penned the script for Precious, will be writing the treatment.
“Both Sanaa Lathan and Geoffrey Fletcher are welcome additions to this project and we could not be happier to have them on board to help us bring this story to life,” said Codeblack Films President Jeff Clanagan. “Lathan’s star power paired with Fletcher’s nuanced script work – we’re confident that Flyy Girl will prove to be a classic.”
I can still remember the day that I finally got my eager hands on a copy of Flyy Girl. My tenth grade English teacher Miss Greene left it sitting on her desk, and I would not leave her alone until she agreed to let me borrow it.
Hopefully, Lathan and the folks over at Codeblack do this book justice. A film adaptation of this classic novel is long overdue.
Follow Jazmine on Twitter @JazmineDenise
