Film & TV NewsAnika Noni Rose Acquires Film and TV Rights to Shadowshaper SeriesDaniel José Older’s young adults book series concerns a Brooklynite with magical powers.
By
Andrew Gans
April 26, 2017
Anika Noni Rose
Anika Noni Rose, who won a Tony Award for her performance in Caroline, or Change, has optioned film and TV rights to Daniel José Older's fantasy series Shadowshaper with her production company Roaring Virgin Productions, Deadline reports.
Shadowshaper, which was published in 2015, concerns the character of Brooklynite Sierra Santiago, who discovers “shadowshaping, a magic that infuses ancestral spirits into paintings, music, and stories,” according to the industry website. “But someone is killing the shadowshapers one by one—and the killer believes Sierra is hiding their greatest secret.”
Rose previously acquired Older's Bone Street Rumba, an urban fantasy series.
In a statement, Rose said, “Shadowshaper was a book I couldn’t put down. At a time when so many are feeling powerless, Sierra Santiago is a young Afro-Latina heroine who finds her power within herself. Through a strong spiritual connection to her ancestors, the discovery of the magic living in her art, and with the help of some amazing friends, she saves her family, and her Brooklyn neighborhood from certain destruction. A face and culture we rarely see on screen; she is the heroine we’ve been searching for, only to find she lives right next door.”
Rose, who was Tony-nominated for her performance in the 2014 revival of A Raisin in the Sun, will also be seen in Everything, Everything from Warner Bros.
Filmed in 2023, the one-night-only event featured Brian Stokes Mitchell, Audra McDonald, Peter Friedman, and more from the Ahrens and Flaherty musical's original cast.
