Deadline reports exclusively that Broadway alum Anika Noni Rose and her production company Roaring Virgin Productions have optioned TV and film rights to Daniel José Older's bestselling YA fantasy series, SHADOWSHAPER. Recently, the Tony Award winner inked a deal with Older to acquire his urban fantasy series, "Bone Street Rumba."
Published in 2015, SHADOWSHAPER follows Brooklyn native Sierra Santiago, who "discovers shadowshaping, a magic that infuses ancestral spirits into paintings, music, and stories. But someone is killing the shadowshapers one by one - and the killer believes Sierra is hiding their greatest secret." The second book in the series, to be titled "Shadowhouse Fall," will hit bookshelves this September.
"Shadowshaper was a book I couldn't put down," commented Rose. "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 received a Tony Award for her role in CAROLINE OR CHANGE and received a Tony nomination for the Broadway revival of A RAISIN IN THE SUN. She recently starred in the BET series, "The Quad" and will soon be seen on the big screen in "Everything, Everything." Her film credits include DREAMGIRLS, "For Colored Girls" and voicing the lead in Disney's "The Princess and the Frog." Her many TV credits include "Roots" and the
Starz drama, "Power."
Photo credit: Nathan Johnson
