Cynthia Erivo's PRIMA FACIE Film To Be Shopped at the Cannes Market
Erivo will star and executive produce the film adaptation of the hit play.
By: Josh Sharpe May. 07, 2025
The film adaptation of Prima Facie, starring Cynthia Erivo, is headed to the Cannes Film Market, Deadline reports. Following its original announcement in 2023, the film was in development with Participant Media, which was dissolved in 2024. At France's Cannes market, the project will now be shopped to potential buyers, with the intention of securing distribution.
As previously reported, Erivo will also executive produce the project through her banner, Edith's Daughter. Susanna White will direct from a screenplay by Prima Facie playwright Suzie Miller, who has adapted the play for the screen.
Now on board are Bunya Productions producers Greer Simpkin and David Jowsey and Embankment’s Kevin Loader. Solome Williams will also executive produce, as will White and Miller.
Prima Facie, which starred Jodie Comer on the West End and Broadway, earned four Tony Award nominations, with Comer winning for Best Actress. The Broadway production received two Drama League Award nominations for Outstanding Production of a Play, the Distinguished Performance Award (Comer), and an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for Outstanding Solo Performance (Comer).
For her performance in the West End production, Comer won the Olivier Award for Best Actress, the Evening Standard Award for Best Actress, the WhatsOnStage Award for Best Performer in a Play, the West End Debut Award from The Stage, and the BroadwayWorld UK/West End Award for Best Newcomer.
Tessa (Erivo) is a thoroughbred. A young, brilliant barrister. She has worked her way up from working-class origins to be at the top of her game; defending; cross examining and winning, until an unexpected event forces her to confront the lines where the patriarchal power of the law, burden of proof and morals diverge.
About Cynthia Erivo
Cynthia Erivo is a Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award-winning actress, singer, and producer, as well as an Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA, and SAG nominee. For her performance in Wicked, Erivo received praise and numerous accolades, including nominations at the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards. She will be seen again as Elphaba later this year in the second part of the Broadway adaptation, Wicked: For Good.
Erivo began acting in a 2011 stage production of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. She gained recognition for starring in the Broadway revival of The Color Purple from 2015 to 2017, for which she won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. Erivo ventured into films in 2018, playing roles in the heist film Widows and the thriller Bad Times at the El Royale. For her portrayal of American abolitionist Harriet Tubman in the biopic Harriet (2019), Erivo received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress; she also wrote and performed the song "Stand Up" on its soundtrack, which garnered her a nomination in the Best Original Song category.
On television, Erivo had her first role in the British series Chewing Gum (2015). She went on to star in the crime drama miniseries The Outsider (2020), and received a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress for her portrayal of American singer Aretha Franklin in National Geographic's anthology series Genius: Aretha (2021).
This year, Erivo released her second studio album and will play Jesus in the forthcoming Hollywood Bowl production of Jesus Christ Superstar. In June, she will also serve as the host for the 78th Tony Awards.
Photo Credit: Bruce Glikas
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