Rihanna and Lupita Nyong'o
Rihanna and Lupita Nyong'o will officially appear together in an upcoming heist film, which was conjured up by Twitter users, now that Netflix has bagged the rights Pascal Le Segretain / Getty

Here's a pretty glorious sentence you might never have thought you would read: singer-turned-actor Rihanna and Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong'o are teaming up for an upcoming heist flick after Netflix nabbed the rights at Cannes Film Festival.

If that doesn't sound good enough, the currently-untitled movie will be Selma director Ava DuVernay will direct. According to Entertainment Weekly, the streaming giant "landed the project in a very aggressive bid, beating out multiple other suitors."

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Interestingly, the movie was the brainchild of several Twitter users who – inspired by a photograph of the pair at a Parisian Miu Miu fashion show in 2014 – created a viral meme in April 2017, remarking that it looked like it was from heist movie. In fact, reps for Rae recently told Vanity Fair "the original Twitter users who imagined the concept for this film will be credited and included in some form."

Users even pleaded to DuVernay and HBO's Insecure writer Issa Rae – now hotly tipped to pen the film – directly about getting the idea off the ground. It didn't take long for all four women to voice their enthusiasm for the idea either, with Nyong'o declaring her willingness to get involved first.

While it's unclear how closely Rae will stick to Twitter fans' ideas, the premise they outlined was that Rihanna would play a woman who "scams rich white men" while Nyong'o would act as the co-conspirator who organised the duo's criminal schemes. Since reports of the Netflix film have made their way online, a source close to Rae confirmed to Vanity Fair that "the original Twitter users who imagined the concept for this film will be credited and included in some form."

Before Ri-ri appears in this female-centred crime comedy, she will be seen in Ocean's 8 alongside American Horror Story's Sarah Paulson, Anne Hathaway, Cate Blanchett and Sandra Bullock. This movie centres on the latter's Debbie Ocean (sister to George Clooney's character in the Steven Soderbergh originals), as she attempts to pull off the heist of the century at New York City's star-studded annual Met Gala.

Awkwafina, Mindy Kaling and Helena Bonham Carter also star. It is expected to be released in the UK on 22 June 2018.

Rihanna Netflix Cannes Film Festival