The talk about a movie on Fela going on set has been on for a while now, but nothing concrete has been seen. Many American studios had toyed with the script but it has never been approved for shooting.
From what we gathered now, the film is back on track and America based Nigerian actor, Chiwetel Ejiofor might be playing the character, Fela. A new company has taken over the production from the previous studio working on the project.
Director Steve McQueen started developing Fela’s biopic a few years ago with his 12 Years a Slave star Chiwetel Ejiofor as the lead actor along with producer, Lydia Dean Pilcher. Since the film could not attract funding, McQueen dropped out as director and was replaced by a Nigerian director, Andrew Dosunmu.
The film is expected to be re-written and McQueen’s script dropped. Shooting is said to be kicking off in California by the end of 2014.