An African Queen is coming to Netflix.
The streaming giant has ordered its first African original series, just a week after Erik Barmack, Netflix’s vice president of international originals said that the company is planning to begin commissioning original series in Africa.
Queen Sono is about a spy who fights crime while dealing with crises in her personal life is heading to Netflix. The production has already tapped Quantico star Pearl Thusi to star as the highly trained spy.
Thusi took to Twitter to share the exciting news, writing, #QueenSono – Africa’s first @netflix original! A thrilling story about a kickass female spy. Can’t wait for you guys to see what we have in store for you!”
Queen Sono was created by Kagiso Lediga and is executive produced by Tamsin Andersson.
“We are delighted to create this original series with Netflix, and are super excited by their undeniable ability to take this homegrown South African story to a global audience. We believe Queen Sono will kick the door open for more awesome stories from this part of the world,” said Lediga.
Barmack added: “Taking talent like this and telling stories to the rest of the world puts Pearl in the same category as other strong female characters like Claire Underwood in House of Cards and Jessica Jones. “Over time, our roots will get deeper in Africa and South Africa, and we’re moving pretty quickly to that now, and plan to invest more in local content.”
Production is set to begin in 2019.
That’s right! A Netflix first for Africa. Pearl Thusi as #QueenSono coming to your screens in 2019 https://t.co/pojP7Y0cLX
— Netflix South Africa (@NetflixSA) December 10, 2018
