Wanuri Kahiu's New Movie to Feature Top Hollywood Stars

A collage of Award-winning film director Wanuri Kahiu and  Stranger Things star, Millie Bobby Brown
A collage of Award-winning film director Wanuri Kahiu and Stranger Things star, Millie Bobby Brown
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Award-winning film director Wanuri Kahiu is set to direct the film "The Thing About Jellyfish" which will feature Stranger Things star, Millie Bobby Brown.

The show set to premiere on Netflix has been in development since 2015 having initially been ordered by Universal. 

According to What's On Netflix, the script centres around Bobby Brown, who plays the character of Suzy. It is an adaptation of Ali Benjamin’s 2015 novel bearing the same name.

Stranger Things star, Millie Bobby Brown at The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on May 22, 2019.
Stranger Things star, Millie Bobby Brown at The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on May 22, 2019.
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The film will seek to tell the story of Suzy as she enters seventh grade and deals with the loss of a close friend who dies after drowning.

Suzy is convinced that the real reason for the tragedy was a rare jellyfish sting. She withdraws into a silent world of her imagination and begins crafting a globe-trotting plan to prove her theory. 

The script for The Thing About Jellyfish was penned by Molly Smith Metzler, who worked on Orange Is the New Black and Shameless.

Kahiu has another film by Netflix that is set to be released in August 2022 with Hollywood star, Lili Reinhart set to lead the cast. Look Both Ways is directed by Kahiu. 

Reinhart is known for her roles in Riverdale, Hustlers, Chemical Hearts and others.

“It is an incredible story about women’s resilience, a story about a young mother. A young single mother is trying to figure out how her life works and how she pursues her passion. 

"A story about a young artist doing everything that she can to get a break in the industry that is so hard to get into as a young woman. 

On both sides, it is about women striving for excellence and that is what drew me to it. Either through motherhood or artistry, it is about women striving for excellence. That is the most important thing and that is the big takeaway and why I wanted to be part of the project," Kahiu stated.

Rafiki producer Wanuri Kahiu
Rafiki producer Wanuri Kahiu
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Wanuri Kahiu

In 2020, Kahiu was chosen to direct a film adaptation of the acclaimed Broadway musical Once on This Island which itself is based on a 1985 novel by Rosa Guy, My Love, My Love; or, The Peasant Girl.

The project, coordinated by Disney's live-action division, also brings other heavyweights on board including Producer Marc Platt, who is behind several major Hollywood productions including La La Land and Wicked.

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