Chiwetel Ejiofor to Star in Joe Wright's 'A Season In the Congo'

Now that 12 Years A Slave has taken home the TIFF Peoples' Choice Award, thrusting it firmly into the Best Picture race, along with it comes Chiwetel Ejiofor's best shot at a Best Actor win. It's been a long time coming for the actor who many have proclaimed as a future victor, previously giving terrific performances in everything from Kinky Boots to Children of Men to Redbelt. As he'll no doubt be showered with praise over the next few months, Ejiofor isn't sitting idly by, as he's already lining up another major project with a director he's quite familiar with.

Ejiofor will team up with director Joe Wright (Anna Karenina) for a film version of their stage play, A Season in the Congo. The U.K. production played at The Young Vic theater, who are now making the leap from the stage to the big screen. The play by Aimé Césaire starred Ejiofor as Patrice Lamumba, the first democratically elected Prime Minister in the Congo's history, and helped them win independence from Belgium in 1960. Unfortunately he was only in office a few months before being swept up in the Congo Crisis and assassinated. Filming will take place in Kinshasa, but before that a spinoff short film based on the play will be released in November.

It's unclear who will pen the script , but this looks like another fascinating project for Wright and Ejiofor that could have us discussing their Oscar hopes this time next year. [TheGuardian]