The Man Died will be released in July to coincide with Soyinka’s 90th birthday.

Nollywood veteran, Wale Ojo, will play famous Nigerian writer, Wole Soyinka, in a film adaptation of one of the latter’s most famous books, The Man Died.

The memoir chronicles the author’s thoughts when the government held him as a political prisoner during the Nigerian Civil War in the late 1960s.

Soyinka published the autobiographical work in 1972, two years after the war ended. He made history when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986, the first Sub-Saharan African to win it.

On Soyinka’s 89th birthday in July 2023, Ojo hailed the playwright as “a rare icon.”

“Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka is 89 years old today. Love him OR hate him HE has earned his place amongst the G. O. A. T. of this universe!” the 55-year-old posted on Instagram.

The film adaptation of The Man Died features Nollywood stars Chidi Mokeme, Sam Dede, Norbert Young, Francis Onwochei, Edmond Enabe, and Segilola Ogidan. Others are Simileoluwa Hassan, Christiana Oshunniyi, and newcomer, Abraham Amkpa.

The film is produced by Femi Odugbemi, written by Bode Asiyanbi and directed by Awam Amkpa. The Man Died will be released in July 2024 to coincide with Soyinka’s 90th birthday.

The Nobel laureate’s Death and the King’s Horseman, published in 1975, was similarly adapted into the 2022 Netflix film, Elesin Oba, The King’s Horseman, featuring Odunlade Adekola, Shaffy Bello, Deyemi Okanlawon, Omowunmi Dada, and Jide Kosoko.

Soyinka’s other notable works include The Lion and the Jewel (1959), The Trials of Brother Jero (1960), Aké: The Years of Childhood (1981) and You Must Set Forth at Dawn (2006).