Nzingha Stewart has been tapped to direct the upcoming biopic based on the life of Misty Copeland, the groundbreaking American Ballet Theatre principal dancer and star of Broadway’s On the Town, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina has a screenplay by Michelle Rosenfarb, based on Copeland’s best-selling autobiography of the same title.
The first African-American woman to be promoted to principal with the ABT, Copeland made her Broadway debut in 2015, taking over the role of Ivy Smith in the acclaimed revival of On the Town.
Stewart has also directed for television’s Scandal, Grey’s Anatomy, and How to Get Away With Murder. She was an executive producer on Tyler Perry’s For Colored Girls.
The New Line Cinema feature is produced by Adam Shankman and Jennifer Gibgot of Offspring Entertainment and Philip Sandhaus.