Yara Shahidi is in talks to star in a plum leading role in the film adaptation of The Sun Is Also A Star. 

The book is from Everything, Everything author Nicola Yoon. That book was developed into a film directed by Stella Meghie, starring Amandla Stenberg.

The Sun Is Also A Star description: Natasha Kingsley and her family are about to be deported from New York City to Jamaica, but she has lived most of her life in the United States and doesn’t want to go back. Daniel Jae Ho Bae was born in the U.S., as was his older brother, Charles Jae Won Bae. Their parents are here legally; Natasha’s are not. The likelihood of Natasha and Daniel ever meeting seems very unlikely, but meet they do as Natasha makes one last ditch effort to turn the tide on her family’s deportation. Daniel is in Manhattan to be interviewed for admittance into Yale, not that he wants to go to Yale or become a doctor. He’d rather learn more about writing poetry. But they do meet and end up spending most of the day together. Daniel is open to falling in love with Natasha, but she keeps resisting. What’s the use she thinks, but she can’t help herself. In the end, Daniel takes her to the plane and watches her fly away. For a while they keep in touch, but time and distance finally take their toll on the relationship—until ten years later. The story is complex and, at first, it is difficult to follow who belongs in which family; but soon the reader figures out who belongs where and starts rooting for the star-crossed lovers.

MGM and Warner Bros. acquired the rights to this novel after Everything, Everything made 6x its budget at the box office.

Girls Trip writer Tracy Y. Oliver, who also worked on Everything, Everything, will pen the adaptation.

THR broke the news of Shahidi’s casting.