Netflix’s ‘African Queens’ EP Says ‘Black Panther’ & ‘The Woman King’ Have Cleared Path For Jada Pinkett Smith-Narrated Docu-Drama

deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: Blockbuster hits Black Panther and The Woman King have cleared the path for Netflix to succeed with Jada Pinkett Smith-narrated docu-drama African Queens, according to the show’s exec.

Premiering this week, African Queens will first tell the story of Queen Njinga of Angola and subsequently Cleopatra in its second season.

It is produced by Welcome to Earth with Will Smith indie Nutopia and Pinkett Smith and Will Smith’s Westbrook Studios. Speaking exclusively to Deadline ahead of a London screening tonight, EP Maxine Watson, who has worked on some of Britain’s biggest factual hits, said recent blockbusters have created a landscape in which shows like African Queens can flourish.

A separate Njinga drama from Starz, which is being exec produced by 50 Cent, is also in the works. “Now is a wise time to launch as The Woman King and Wakanda Forever have made it easier for Netflix to tell this story,” she said. “We’re hoping this could inspire the next generation.” The idea for African Queens came from Pinkett Smith and Will Smith’s daughter Willow Smith, after Willow posed the question: “Who are the African queens and why don’t we know about them?” Watson said African Queens will go “some way towards answering that question.” “I don’t think modern TV has even scratched the surface on these stories,” she added. “You have to ask yourself why we don’t know nearly as much about Queen Njinga as we do about, say, Queen Elizabeth I.” Notably, Netflix has opted to open the first season with the story of Njinga before moving on to a much better known ruler, Cleopatra, in the second, while Nutopia is busy researching for future seasons should they be greenlit. “Cleopatra was the obvious one to start with but Njinga is