Hulu has acquired the rights to adapt media pioneer Amy Dubois Burnett’s debut novel “If I Ruled the World” into a one-hour drama series.
“If I Ruled the World” was inspired by Burnett’s experience as the first black woman to take the helm of a major mainstream magazine in the United States, where she served as editor-in-chief of Ebony, Teen People, and Honey magazines, and as deputy editor of Harper’s Bazaar.
In 2024, after a competitive auction, If I Ruled the World was sold to Flatiron Books in a major deal. The novel, which will be published Tuesday, is described as a “fast-paced, juicy debut novel, written by the ultimate insider, that takes a peek behind the curtain at the cutthroat world of hip-hop music and the glamorous magazine scene of the late 1990s.”
Veteran producers and top studio executives Emma Watts (Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox) and Lee Daniels (Empire, Precious, Deliverance) are producing the television version, and Watts read the manuscript and brought it to Daniels. Daniels co-wrote the pilot with Burnett.
“If I Ruled the World” tells the story of Nikki Rose, a young magazine editor and the only Black editor on her staff, as she navigates the volatile intersection of hip-hop, fashion, and editorial culture during the Y2K era.
“However, after being repeatedly told by her boss that ‘black women don’t sell magazines,’ she decides to quit and take over the struggling Sugar, a hip-hop music and lifestyle magazine with untapped potential,” the synopsis reads. “Thrown into a whole new world of wealth, decadence, and debauchery, Nicki has only six months left to save Sugar and her own dreams.”
The story follows Nicky as she balances working all-nighters at the office and partying with New York City’s most influential delinquents as she strives to prove she knows enough to assume leadership.
There’s plenty of drama in this territory, but as the synopsis alludes, “Her most dangerous challenge is escaping her very married and very powerful ex-lover and ex-boss, Alonzo Griffin, who is determined to destroy both her and Sugar.”
Burnett will also serve as executive producer. She is repped by Anonymous Content, Kaplan Perrone, and Park Fine & Brower.
Daniels is represented by AA, Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren Richman, Rush, Culler, Gellman, Meigs & Fox, LLP, and Watts is represented by CAA and Ziffren Brittenham LLP.
Lee Daniels and Emma Watts
Daniels: Miles Pettengill / Watts: Fox
