Lupita Nyong'o in Talks For Ava DuVernay's Sci-Fi Film INTELLIGENT LIFE

Yesterday, we wrote about how Selma director Ava DuVernay was wanted for two upcoming projects: Disney's adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time, and Amblin's sci-fi film Intelligent Life. THR reports that DuVernay is still circling the project, but now Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong'o is in talks to star.

Intelligent Life is written by Jurassic World and Safety Not Guaranteed writers Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly, and is a reworking of a screenplay they wrote called The Ambassador. The plot centers on a U.N. delegate tasked with being Earth's representative when humanity makes contact with alien life, and then he falls in love with a mysterious woman who turns out to be an alien. Nyong'o is in talks for the alien role, which means she'll be playing two aliens in a row following her work as Maz Kanata in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. (Trevorrow, of course, is directing Episode IX, so there's another SW connection for you.)

DuVernay is supposedly going to receive an official offer to direct within the next 24 hours, but even if she does take the job (which I hope she does, because this sounds like it has a lot of potential), that doesn't mean that she's automatically excluded from taking A Wrinkle in Time as well. Production on the two films doesn't conflict, so she may end up doing both...which might be the best possible outcome here.