Disney queen of katwe movie#

Disney queen of katwe movie#

He was lucky in that his boss at Disney, Sean Bailey, let him spend money on the film without a formal greenlight and without much interference, but Nagenda knew he had to really have the goods if he wanted to get the movie made. He brought on Nair, who in turn recruited her Reluctant Fundamentalist screenwriter William Wheeler to punch up the script. I used all of the equity I had built at that moment to put forward this movie.Дisney executive vice president of production Tendo NagendaД«ut all the while he worked on Katwe. They just, like their protagonistвЂ™s signature move, had to be smart and aggressive. And they were going to get Disney-the home of Star Wars and Marvel and animated movies about lost fish-to make it. That day, in the bamboo grove of her garden, the two made a pact: They were going to make a movie about Phiona Mutesi, a chess champion from the Kampala slum of Katwe. вЂњAnd I was like, вЂOh, IвЂ™m with my family, do you want to meet tomorrow?вЂ™ SheвЂ™s like, вЂNo, just bring вЂem!вЂ™вЂќ вЂњI called her from the street somewhere she said вЂOh, IвЂ™m at home, why donвЂ™t you come up?вЂ™вЂќ Nagenda remembers.

She didnвЂ™t mind she invited him over for tea. Mira Nair didnвЂ™t really know Nagenda, but he happened to be visiting family in her backyard in the Ugandan city of Kampala, so he called her out of the blue. It was winter 2013 the Disney exec had spent months quietly developing a movie about a young girl in Uganda who became an international chess star, and now he knew who he wanted to direct it.