British Nigerian author Bolu Babalola is set to make her feature film screenwriting debut as Working Title, the company behind Bridget Jones, Notting Hill and Love Actually, has acquired her bestselling novel Honey and Spice.
Babalola will adapt the screenplay herself, marking a major step forward in her career after creating, writing and executive-producing her acclaimed Channel 4 pilot Big Age in 2021.
Honey and Spice follows a young Black British woman who has no interest in romance but unexpectedly becomes entangled in a fake relationship with the man she had previously warned her friends about. The book was a bestseller in both the UK and U.S., making the Reese Witherspoon and TikTok Book Club lists, earning recognition from Waterstones, The New York Times, TIME and NPR, and winning the inaugural TikTok Book of the Year Award.
Babalola, also known for her bestselling short story collection Love in Colour and her latest novel Sweet Heat, published in July, will serve as the film’s screenwriter. Sharing her excitement on Instagram, she wrote, “So excited to bring Kiki & Malakai’s story to the big screen. It is quite a dream come true. To work with the best to ever do it in the rom com biz and they are such wonderful producing partners.”