Fox’s upcoming adaptation of Angie Thomas’ On the Come Up has found its screenwriter in Kay Oyegun.

Update (12/11/19): According to Deadline, This Is Us producer and writer Kay Oyegun has officially signed on to write the script for the upcoming book to film adaptation of On the Come Up.

The book is author Angie Thomas’ follow-up novel to her New York Times bestseller, The Hate U Give, which also got the adaptation treatment over at Fox in 2018.

Thomas’ On the Come Up exists in the same universe as The Hate U Give. This time around, Thomas’ book centers on Bri— an aspiring young rapper who also happens to be the daughter of a well known underground hip hop legend who was on the brink of breaking into the mainstream just before he died.

Oyegun joins George Tillman Jr., who was previously announced as the adaptation’s director when the project was first announced earlier this year.

Shortly after news of Oyegun’s involvement broke, Angie Thomas took to Twitter to share the good news with fans far and wide.

“Bam! Been holding on to this one for a long time,” tweeted the author. “I can’t wait for y’all to see what @KayOyegun is doing. It. Is. Mind. Blowing. So so blessed to have her bring ON THE COME UP to life. Bri, Sonny, and Malik are coming, y’all.”

There’s currently no word on when we can expect the big screen adaptation of On the Come Up to debut in theaters.

Original Story (2/5/19): The Hate U Give author Angie Thomas is re-teaming with Fox to bring another one of her novels to life on the big screen!

According to Variety, Fox 2000 has bought the rights to young adult author Angie Thomas’ upcoming book, On the Come Up.

News that Thomas’ next novel will be getting the big screen treatment comes just one day before the book’s planned publication date.

In addition to announcing plans to turn On the Come Up into a movie, Fox 2000 also revealed that a good chunk of the production team who worked on The Hate U Give is returning to work on the forthcoming adaptation.

Specifically, George Tillman Jr. will return to serve as director on the project. Additionally, Thomas will serve as a producer on the adaptation alongside Temple Hill’s Marty Bowen, Isaac Klausner, and John Fischer.

Fans interested in reading Thomas’ highly anticipated novel can pick up a copy starting on Tuesday, February 5.

Here is the official synopsis for On the Come Up, which is being published by Harper Collins:

Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least win her first battle. As the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri’s got massive shoes to fill.

But it’s hard to get your come up when you’re labeled a hoodlum at school, and your fridge at home is empty after your mom loses her job. So Bri pours her anger and frustration into her first song, which goes viral…for all the wrong reasons.

Bri soon finds herself at the center of a controversy, portrayed by the media as more menace than MC. But with an eviction notice staring her family down, Bri doesn’t just want to make it—she has to. Even if it means becoming the very thing the public has made her out to be.  

Insightful, unflinching, and full of heart, ‘On the Come Up’ is an ode to hip hop from one of the most influential literary voices of a generation. It is the story of fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked against you; and about how, especially for young black people, freedom of speech isn’t always free.