Will Smith and David Oyelowo team up to adapt Okogwu’s novel for Netflix

Will Smith and David Oyelowo are joining forces with Netflix to adapt Tọlá Okogwu’s middle-grade superhero duology Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun (Simon & Schuster Children’s) prior to its publication in June this year. 

Ola Shokunbi is set to write the film adaptation, which is in production at Smith’s Westbrook Studios and Oyelowo’s Yoruba Saxon for Netflix. 

The film will be executive produced by Okogwu alongside Heather Washington and Jessica Oyelowo, with Smith, Oyelowo and Jon Mone as producers. 

Onyeka and The Academy of the Sun follows 12-year-old British Nigerian girl Onyeka who discovers that her hair has psychokinetic powers when trying to save her friend from drowning in a pool. Her mother reveals that she is a Solari, part of a secretive group of mutants unique to Nigeria. Onyeka is taken from London to a futuristic Nigeria, where she can train at the Academy of the Sun—a school where the Solari are taught to harness their powers and use them to protect their country.  

Okogwu is represented by Michelle Kroes at CAA and Claire Wilson at RCW Literary Agency.