Nnedi Okorafor, Wanuri Kahiu Co-Writing Octavia Butler’s ‘Wild Seed’ to be Produced by Viola Davis

Nigerian-American novelist of African-based science fiction, fantasy & magical realism, Nnedi Okorafor and Kenyan filmmaker, director of the controversial LGBT feature Rafiki, Wanuri Kahiu are scripting the pilot for new Amazon Prime Video Wild Seed based off Octavia Butler’s acclaimed Patternist sci-fi series.

According to Deadline,

“Wild Seed” is a love (and hate) story of two African immortals who travel the ages from pre-colonial West Africa to the far, far future. Doro, a killer who uses his power to breed people like livestock, encounters Anyanwu, a healer who forces him to reassess his millennia of cruel behavior: for centuries, their personal battles change the course of our world as they struggle against the backdrop of time — master vs slave, man vs woman, killer vs healer.

The series will be produced by Viola Davis and Julius Tennon‘s Juvee Production together with Okarafor, Kahiu, Ernestine Walker, Merrilee Heifet and the Octavia E. Butler estate.

Juvee had pursued the rights to the book for two years and it was not until they brought in Kahiu, who is set to direct the series, and Okarafor, that the vision became clear on how to turn the book into a series.

Wild Seed is a book that shifted my life. It is as epic, as game changing, as moving and brilliant as any Science Fiction novel ever written. Julius and I are proud to have this masterpiece in our hands. It fullfills our promise and legacy to be disrupters. Octavia Butler was a visionary and we look forward to honoring the scope of her work and sharing it with the world

Said Davis.

Both Okarafor and Kahiu referenced aspects of their careers to the influence of Butler, who showed them that they could have a voice as black women.

The series will also be directed by Wanuri Kahiu.