The film rights for Maaza Mengiste‘s second novel The Shadow King have been acquired by US film company Atlas Entertainment.
On September 24, novelist and essayist Maaza Mengiste’s second novel The Shadow King made its official appearance on the world literary scene. The novel has the following blurb;
In 1935, orphaned servant Hirut struggles to adapt to her new household as Ethiopia faces Mussolini’s looming invasion. As the battles begin in earnest, Hirut and other women must care for the wounded. But when Emperor Haile Selassie goes into exile and Ethiopia is about to lose hope, Hirut helps to disguise a gentle peasant as the emperor to keep the fight alive. She becomes his guard, inspiring women to join the war against fascism. In this extraordinary, beautifully told epic, Hirut overcomes rape, violence, and imprisonment, finding the strength to fight for her country’s freedom and her own.
Maaza Mengiste breathes life into complicated characters on both sides of the battle line, shaping a searing story of ordinary women and the advanced army they courageously opposed. Set against the first real conflict of World War II, The Shadow King is a heartrending, indelible exploration of what it means to be a woman at war.
News has emerged on the new title that we can all celebrate. An exclusive written by Deadline.com’s Mike Fleming Jr on October 21 informed us that the film rights for the novel have been acquired by Atlas Entertainment. Atlas Entertainment is an American film financing and production company who have films like 12 Monkeys (1995), City of Angels (1998), American Hustle (2013), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Suicide Squad (2016), and Wonder Woman (2017) in their portfolio.
Maaza Mengiste said: “I am thrilled and excited to be working with the Atlas team. I was so impressed with their vision and how deeply they connected with and understood my work. It is a dream come true for my novel to be brought to the screen.“
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