British Nigerian Author Bolu Babalola to Adapt “Honey and Spice” for the Screen
Working Title, the studio behind “Bridget Jones,” “Notting Hill,” and “Love Actually,” has optioned the film rights to British-Nigerian author Bolu Babalola’s 2022 hit novel “Honey and Spice,” setting Babalola to write the screenplay herself. This will be her feature debut after creating and writing the Channel 4 pilot “Big Age.”
“Honey and Spice” introduced readers to Kiki Banjo, a sharp, self-assured student broadcaster who wants nothing to do with love until she’s pulled into a fake-dating arrangement with Malakai Korede, the same guy she warned her friends about.
The novel became a bestseller in both the UK and the U.S., won the inaugural TikTok Book of the Year Award, and earned praise from Waterstones, TIME, NPR, and The New York Times, which called it a novel rich in observation and cultural detail.
Babalola is also the author of the bestselling story collection “Love in Colour,” and her latest novel, “Sweet Heat,” was published this summer.
Working Title says it sees “Honey and Spice” as an opportunity to bring a new rom-com voice to its lineup, while Babalola describes the adaptation as personal and long-awaited.
Deadline was first to report the news.
#BoluBabalola
#HoneyAndSpice
#WorkingTitleFilms
#BookToFilm