EXCLUSIVE: Mami Wata filmmaker CJ Obasi has set his next feature project. 

Obasi will produce, direct, and co-write The Boy Who Runs, a biopic based on the life of the Ugandan athlete Julius Achon. Obasi is co-writing the screenplay with Kirimi Kiage and Teddy Gitau. Kudi Maradzika is attached as the executive producer, with Mortinno Morton as co-producer.

Swiss-based studio 9 NIGHTS is producing in association with CJ Obasi’s production company, Fiery Film.

Based on the book The Boy Who Runs: The Odyssey of Julius Achon by John Brant, the film follows Achon’s journey from northern Uganda, where he was abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army, an extremist organization operating in Central and East Africa, to his rise as a national champion and NCAA athlete at George Mason University, and his later years inside the elite American running world of Nike in Oregon. 

After athletics, Achon entered public life and currently serves as an elected Member of Parliament for Otuke County in northern Uganda.

Obasi last directed Mami Wata (2023), which screened at Sundance before playing across the festival circuit. The film was Nigeria’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards and landed Independent Spirit and NAACP Image Award nominations. He is currently shooting A Blue Butterfly, a psychological drama starring Steve Toussaint (House of the Dragon) and Sanaa Lathan (Succession). A Blue Butterfly also stars Lucian Msamati (Conclave), Anton Lesser (Andor), Eliane Umuhire (A Quiet Place: Day One), Andy Nyman (Wicked), and Aggy K. Adams (The Witcher).