Madonna set to direct DePrince biopic

Madonna will direct the upcoming film “Taking Flight” about Michaela DePrince, the Sierra Leonean ballet star who also appeared in Beyoncé's “Lemonade”. The new film will be adapted by Camilla Blackett from the memoir “Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina”.

DePrince was born in Sierra Leone in 1995. Both her parents were killed in the country's civil war, and her uncle took her to an orphanage. She was later adopted by a family in New Jersey. DePrince excelled in ballet and eventually joined the Dutch National Ballet, where she is now a soloist.

DePrince co-wrote her memoir with her adoptive mother in 2015.

The same year, Beyoncé reached out to DePrince to enlist her to dance in “Lemonade”.

Taking Flight marks Madonna's third gig directing a feature film. In 2008, she helmed “Filth and Wisdom”. She also co-directed 2011's “W.E.”. In addition, she's currently working on a big-screen adaptation of the novel “The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells”.