Hulu Acquires Amy DuBois Barnett’s Debut Novel ‘If I Ruled the World’ With Lee Daniels Co-Writing Pilot (EXCLUSIVE)

Hulu has landed the rights to pioneering media executive Amy DuBois Barnett’s debut novel, “If I Ruled the World,” to adapt into a hour-long drama series.

“If I Ruled the World” is inspired by Barnett’s experiences as the first Black woman to helm a major mainstream magazine in the U.S. Barnett served as editor-in-chief of Ebony, Teen People and Honey magazines, as well as deputy editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar.

In 2024, after a competitive auction, “If I Ruled the World” sold to Flatiron Books in a major deal. The novel, which will be published on Tuesday, is described as “a fast-paced, juicy debut that peeks behind the curtain at the cutthroat world of hip-hop music and the glamorous magazine scene in the late 1990s, written by the ultimate insider.”

Veteran producer and top-ranking studio executive Emma Watts (at Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox) and Lee Daniels (“Empire,” “Precious,” “The Deliverance”) are producing the TV adaptation, which Watts brought to Daniels after reading the manuscript. Daniels is co-writing the pilot with Barnett.

“If I Ruled the World” centers on Nikki Rose, a young magazine editor — and the only Black editor on staff — as she navigates the volatile intersection of hip-hop, fashion and editorial culture in the Y2K era.

“But after being told one too many times by her boss that ‘Black girls don’t sell magazines,’ she quits to take over Sugar, a struggling hip hop music and lifestyle magazine with untapped potential,” a synopsis explains. “Thrown into an entirely new world of wealth, decadence, and debauchery, Nikki has just six months to save Sugar — and her own dreams.”

The story follows as Nikki works to prove she’s savvy enough to take the lead — balancing pulling all-nighters at the office with partying with New York City’s most influential bad boys.

There’s plenty of drama that comes with the territory, but, as the synopsis teases, “her most dangerous challenge is evading Alonzo Griffin, her very married, very powerful ex-lover and former boss, who is determined to destroy both her and Sugar.”

Barnett will also executive produce. She is repped by Anonymous Content, Kaplan Perrone, and Park Fine & Brower.

Daniels is repped by AA and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren Richman, Rush, Kaller, Gellman, Meigs & Fox, L.L.P. Watts is repped by CAA and Ziffren Brittenham LLP.