Amandla Stenberg Snags Lead In #BlackLivesMatter Centered Film

Amandla Stenberg

Amandla Stenberg, most known for her role as Rue in 2012’s “The Hunger Games”, has been tapped for the lead role in the upcoming movie adaptation of Angela Thomas’ debut novel called “The Hate U Give.” The forthcoming young adult novel was inspired by the recent #BlackLivesMatter movement and centers around a 16-year-old girl, Starr, who witnesses the shooting of her best friend (who, by the way, is unarmed) by a police officer and eventually has to testify in court about the incident. The character lives in a poor neighborhood but attends a suburban prep school and the shooting gives her pause about the differences of her home and school life.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Thomas had questioned whether or not a #BlackLivesMatter-inspired book would garner attention. Apparently, the novel DID catch the eye and interest because a number of studios were interested in obtaining the rights to such a timely story. Interestingly enough, the novel has not even been released yet and Thomas celebrated the major coup of Fox 2000’s win of the rights to begin production through a series of tweets on Twitter posting,

Guys, I’m in tears. This is a dream come true. And I have an AMAZING team who is going to make this happen. I’m forever grateful.