Viola Davis will play Nanisca, the general of the Kingdom’s all-female unit, and her daughter, who, according to Deadline, will be played by Lupita Nyong’o.
Together, they fought the French and neighboring tribes who “violated their honor, enslaved their people and threatened to destroy everything they’ve lived for.”
As reported by Variety, Gina Prince Bythewood has been tapped to helm The Woman King, which is based on true events that took place across the 18th and 19th centuries in the Kingdom of Dahomey, which was located within the present-day African country Benin.