Viola Davis and Lupita Nyong'o to play mother-daughter warriors in 'Woman King'

March 2 (UPI) -- TriStar Pictures has acquired the worldwide rights to the film The Woman King, which will star Oscar-winning actresses Viola Davis and Lupita Nyong'o.

The movie is based on an original story by actress Maria Bello, who is also producing the project.

"Inspired by true events that took place in The Kingdom of Dahomey, one of the most powerful states of Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries, The Woman King tells the story of Nanisca, general of the all-female military unit known as the Amazons, and her daughter Nawi, who together fought the French and neighboring tribes who violated their honor, enslaved their people, and threatened to destroy everything they've lived for," a news release explained.

"The Woman King is the powerful true story of an extraordinary mother-daughter relationship," said Hannah Minghella, president of TriStar Pictures. "And there's no one more extraordinary than Viola Davis and Lupita Nyong'o to bring them to life."

"Black Panther just showed us how the power of imagination and lore could reveal a world without gender and racial stereotypes," producer Cathy Schulman added. "The Woman King will tell one of history's greatest forgotten stories from the real world in which we live, where an army of African warrior women staved off slavery, colonialism and inter-tribal warfare to unify a nation."