HBO mainstay Amy Aniobi has yet another project in the works at the cabler. The “Insecure” writer-producer-director, “Two Dope Queens” showrunner, and recent “Rap Sh!t” director has acquired the rights to “The Nigerwife,” the upcoming novel from Vanessa Walters, with plans to develop it as a series at HBO. Deadline broke the news.
The adaptation hails from Aniobi’s overall deal with HBO/HBO Max, and she is executive producing with Walters. Aanch Khaneja, Head of Film & TV at Aniobi’s SuperSpecial production company, will co-exec produce.
Set for publication next June, “The Nigerwife” “tells the story of Nicole Oruwari, who has the perfect life: a handsome husband, a palatial house in the heart of glittering Lagos, Nigeria, and a glamorous, highly-exclusive group of friends,” Deadline synopsizes. “A UK ex-pat with two young children, Nicole left everything behind to become a ‘Nigerwife’ – the foreign bride of a Nigerian man – trading gloomy London, along with her overreaching family, for sunny, moneyed Lagos.”
The source continues, “But when Nicole disappears without a trace from a boat in the affluent Ikoyi harbor, the cracks in her so-called perfect life start to show. When Nicole projects an image of effortless wealth and happiness, a very different picture soon begins to emerge – one of depression, isolation, and even violence. Who was the real Nicole? And where did she go?”
Walters has previously written YA novels “Rude Girls” and “Best Things in Life”; poetry, fiction, and non-fiction collection “Smoke Othello”; and plays including “Michael X” and “Caribbean Kitchen.” She is also a creative writing tutor and literary activist.
Aniobi most recently helmed the “Rap Sh!t” episode “Something for the Gram.” She is developing two features under her overall deal, and sold HBO “Enjoy Your Meal,” a pitch inspired by the racist controversies in the food media world that made headlines during summer 2020. “Silicon Valley” and web series “Lisa and Amy Are Black,” “The Slutty Years,” and “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl” are among her other credits.
