From actress to producer: Gabrielle Union turning YA novel ‘500 Words Or Less’ into movie

Gabrielle Union is an actress, entrepreneur, and is now putting on her producer hat.

Union has secured the rights to Juleah Del Rosario’s young adult novel, “500 Words Or Less,” Deadline reports.

Union’s production company I’ll Have Another will lead the project and Holly Shakoor Fleischer will supervise development on behalf of the company. Manaal Khan and Matt Nicholas will be producing for Amyale and Rebel Maverick, respectively, according to reports.

“Gabrielle Union has championed the YA genre for years, giving us some of our all-time favorites, and we couldn’t think of a better collaborator for this unique and poetic coming of age story,” said Khan and Nicholas in a joint statement.

The book centers on Nic Chen, a Chinese-American high school senior who attempts to salvage her reputation among her Ivy League-obsessed classmates by writing their college admission essays, and in the process, learns many truths about herself.

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“I am such a fan of young adult stories in general but this novel really got me. It is beautifully written entirely in verse and the exploration of identity and what that means to you and those around you is something that my production company is focused on exploring with all the stories we choose to tell. This one really hit home and I’m excited to be part of bringing it to life as accurately as we possibly can,” stated Union.

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Bad Boys Reboot

Union is also set to reprise her role in the upcoming Bad Boys movie reboot: L.A.’s Finest

The movie will be the eagerly awaited follow up to the 1995 Bad Boys and the 2003 Bad Boys II sequel. However, even though Will Smith and Martin Lawrence twice made magic on-screen as the comedic cops who took down drug dealers, Lawrence has yet “come to terms” on his return, Variety reports. Apparently, he “continues to circle” the project.

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While we’d surely love for Lawrence to return, the movie will likely continue on with or without him given that the production is scheduled to begin in early 2019. According to reports, Sony would like to have Bad Boy 3 hit theaters in early 2020.