Fox 2000’s adaptation of Angie Thomas’s 2017 young adult novel The Hate U Give debuted this past September, and starred Amandla Stenberg, Regina Hall, and Common. On Monday, Variety reported the studio’s plans to give the author’s upcoming sophomore work the same treatment, buying the movie rights for On the Come Up. The Hate U Give director George Tillman Jr. will also reportedly return to direct the second film.
Just like in her debut work, Come Up explores the world of a black teenage girl. Per Harper Collins’ description, it follows the story of 16-year-old Bri, “the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died right before he hit big.” Struggling with racism, her family’s financial hardships and her father’s legacy, the burgeoning rapper must grapple with a new daunting element in her life: intense public scrutiny. As the book’s description says, “Bri pours her anger and frustration into her first song, which goes viral … for all the wrong reasons.” On the Come Up arrives on bookstore shelves on Tuesday, February 5.
