“Hidden Figures” breakout Janelle Monáe has two films on the way with Universal Pictures, and it seems she has plenty more projects on the horizon with the studio. Monáe’s Wondaland Pictures has signed a first-look production agreement with Universal, according to Deadline. Wondaland Pictures is the film division of the Grammy-nominated singer’s company, Wondaland.
As CEO of Wondaland, Monáe along with Managing Partner Mikael Moore, Creative Director Chuck Lightning, and Executive Producer Nate Wonder, Wondaland, and Universal Pictures “will develop multi-genre content with an emphasis on championing underrepresented voices and groundbreaking perspectives,” the source notes.
“There is an exciting, artistic revolution taking place in our industry, and Janelle and the talented team at Wondaland are at the forefront,” said Donna Langley, Chairman of Universal Pictures. “Their forward-thinking, inclusive approach to content and storytelling make them a perfect fit for our studio.”
Monáe stars in two upcoming Universal Pictures titles, Universal’s “Welcome to Marwen,” a drama about a man who constructs a miniature village set to bow December 21, and Focus Features’ biopic of Harriet Tubman, which is slated for release next year.
Released in 2016, “Hidden Figures” grossed over $235 million worldwide and earned a Best Picture Oscar nod. The film tells the true story of Katherine G. Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Monáe), brilliant women who played an instrumental role in the space race while working at NASA. Monáe also had a role in Best Picture winner “Moonlight.”
“I was being honest to what I was into as an artist,” Monáe has said of her famous fashion choices, which include rocking tuxes. “As women, there’s this whole notion of what it is to be a feminist or be effeminate; what it means to ‘dress like a girl.’ I wanted to change what a young African-American woman could look like, sound like, speak like, walk like, act like,” she explained. “We’re not monolithic. We’re not all meant to be the same. We may experience some of the same things, but at the end of the day we have to decide whether to embrace the things that make us unique or not. I decided to choose me.”
