After earning critical raves for his indie drama Mother of George, director Andrew Dosunmu has lined up his next project. The filmmaker will helm a biopic of Fela Kuti for Focus Features, confirms the Hollywood Reporter. Dosunmu will direct from a script written by Focus CEO James Schamus and Nigerian poet Chris Abani. The script will be based on Michael Veal's book Fela: The Life and Times of an African Music Icon.
The film will chronicle the life of Fela, who was not only one of the founders of the musical movement of Afrobeat, a fusion of jazz, funk and psychedelic rock, but also pushed boundaries in art and life in the 1970s. 
Dosunmu replaces Steve McQueen as director of the film. The 12 Years a Slave director had been attached to the project for some time, but dropped out to pursue other work. It's not known if Chiwetel Ejiofor will stay on in the title role. 
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(Photo: Larry Busacca/Getty Images)