Entertainment
Eight-Year-Old Chess Prodigy’s Film Ready For Release
Television host and comedian, Trevor Noah is developing a film about Tanitoluwa ‘Tani’ Adewumi, the eight-year-old Nigerian chess prodigy.
The Tide source reports that Adewumi’s story broke the internet in March when he was profiled by the New York Times, going from homelessness to internationally known chess champion.
Noah, who hosted the award-winning The Daily Show would produce the film under his Day Zero Productions imprint alongside business partner, Haroon Salem.
State Street Pictures and Mainstay Entertainment were also named as producers on the project, which was acquired by Paramount Studios.
Our source reports that Adewumi had only been playing chess for a year when he won the New York State Scholastic Chess Championship in 2018.
He learned to play chess from a teacher at school.
The plot of the film centred on the Adewumi family’s survival story of seeking asylum only to become homeless in New York, and the lengths that parents would go to for their children.
After their story began spreading around social media, the family was able to secure permanent housing thanks to the more than 250,000 dollars in donations that they received through GoFundMe.
The film’s script would be adapted from a trio of books on the family, which would be released through HarperCollins’ W Publishing imprint in 2020.
R&B star, Temilade Openiyi, popularly known as Tems, has recounted the early-career challenges she faced, revealing that she was once booed out of the stage while performing at a school event.
Speaking in an interview with Newsmen, the Crazy Tings crooner shared that she wasn’t only booed but was also harassed with plastic bottles.
“I remember one time I was going to perform at my school as an up-and-coming singer and I thought I was going to receiving a standing ovation.
“But I got booed. They even threw plastic bottles at me,” she recalled.
Tems explained that despite the embarrassing incident and other such rejections, she remained determined to pursue a career in music.
The Tide Entertainment reports that Tems admitted that some of the initial rejections she faced could be due to her conviction to stick to her originality instead of doing covers or familiar sounds like most of her peers.
The Grammy-winning singer said looking back now, she is glad that she didn’t compromise her style despite the initial pressures.
A close associate of late singer Mohbad, Primeboy, has appealed for the artiste’s burial nearly three years after his death.
According to him, Mohbad’s body remains in the mortuary since September 12, 2023, pending burial arrangements.
The Tide Entertainment reports that in a statement Primeboy urged the family, public, and government to permit the burial, stating, “It’s been almost three years since Mohbad left us. His body is still in the mortuary. I’m begging the family, I’m begging the public, I’m begging the government, please let’s bury our brother. He deserves a befitting burial.”
It would be recalled that Mohbad’s death sparked public outrage, protests, and investigations. Ongoing autopsy examinations, police inquiries, and legal proceedings have delayed burial arrangements amid family disagreements and public scrutiny.