Madonna to Direct 'Ade: A Love Story' Adaptation

Madonna's always had a fairly successful acting career (aside from Shanghai Surprise). But the pop star has dipped her toe into directing a few times, albeit with unsuccessful results: the critically panned feature-length films W.E. and Filth and Wisdom. Her next project, however, seems to be much more up her alley. Madonna will direct an adaptation of Ade: A Love Story by Rebecca Walker (Alice Walker's daughter). The story follows an Farida, American college student traveling in Africa who falls in love with a Ade, a young Muslim man off the coast of Kenya. But their plans for marriage and a simple life together fall apart when Farida contracts malaria and becomes caught in the middle of a civil war, forcing the couple to face the cultural and political forces surrounding them.

As The Hollywood Reporter notes, while the narrative focuses on a love story, the themes of the novel are themes Madonna has frequently addressed in her career: sex, religion, race, lesbianism. Of course, she's already a huge fan of the book, and even wrote a blurb for its release.

This is clearly a passion project for Madonna, so will this finally be her creative breakthrough in directing? Or will it just be Vogue: An Appropriation Love Story?