Titled ‘Naija Vamp,’ the story follows Bisi, who is turning 40 years old again and her hunger for eternal love, beyond the flesh.
Deadline reports that she turned 40 many years ago when she became a vampire as part of her Nigerian undead family heritage.
Struggling to find herself in the New World amidst navigating her family’s Old World vampiric expectations and unable to keep a partner for fear of eating them, Bisi’s afterlife has felt like one perpetual time loop she can’t quite escape.
However, she intends to do things differently this time as she plans to learn to accept and fully embrace all of who she is, even the blood sucking part.
The story is described as an irreverent love letter to all those who have ever felt othered, wrapped in a blood-sucking coming-of-age self-discovery romp.
Sharing her thoughts on the project, Badaki said, “As a geek and as a Nigerian it has been a dream come true to be able to fuse both of these elements in this unconventional coming of age tale and to hopefully play a small part in further expanding inclusivity in genre spaces. To see ‘Naija Vamp’, an idea that originated in my mind, brought to fruition in partnership with the immense talents and experience of Sebastian, Prentice and the team, is the absolute geektastic cherry on top. Gratitude is an understatement.”
Prior to this new project, she developed a drama series centered on the life of African Warrior ‘Queen Nzinga’ with EbonyLife’s Mo Abudu, Starz, Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson, and Spartacus creator Steven S. DeKnight.
Badaki is producing both the television series and comic in partnership with Payback Entertainment, the company founded by ‘Insecure’ showrunner Prentice Penny and Stranger Comics President Sebastian A. Jones.
Shedding some light on the project, Penny said, “Yetide has created something really special in ‘Naija Vamp’, it feels like the perfect blend of horror and comedy from a perspective we don’t get to see enough but need more of. I’m just really honored and excited we get to explore and develop both the comic and TV landscape from inception and then launch this vampire franchise on the mortal world.”
With the TV show still in its early days, there is no word yet on the cast, production date or streaming platform. However, the comic is expected to launch sometime in 2023.
