Second book by ‘The Hate U Give’ author Angie Thomas to be made into movie

Feb 5, 2019

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There’s good news ahead for fans of The Hate U Give, the critically acclaimed book and movie offering a fictional account of how one community responds to a police-involved fatal shooting of a Black teen.

Fox 2000 has secured the rights to author Angie Thomas’ second novel On the Come Up, which focuses on 16-year-old rapper Bri, the daughter of a hip-hop legend who died before his big break, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Bri’s need to succeed intensifies after her mother loses her job and they find an eviction notice on the front door, Deadline reports. The story takes place in Garden Heights, the same fictional community that was the setting for Hate.

George Tillman Jr., who directed The Hate U Give and Black film classic Soul Food, will direct the new movie. Author Thomas will also produce the film.

The Hate U Give was loosely based on the police-involved fatal shooting of Oscar Grant in the Bay Area. The storyline was also reportedly influenced by some of Thomas’ life experiences.

On the Come Up’s literary introduction comes as people are still grabbing up copies of The Hate U Give. As of last week, the book had spent 100 weeks on the Times Best-Seller List, according to The New York Times.

Thomas told the news organization that the success of The Hate U Give created pressure to succeed with the next book.

“Everyone says the second book is the hardest and I can attest to that,” Thomas told the Times. “I felt like I had a thousand eyes looking over my shoulder with every line I wrote, saying, ‘Well, Starr (the main character in The Hate U Give) wouldn’t say that.’ I had to get into the mindset of writing it for myself, not for readers of The Hate U Give.”