MGM has announced that it has acquired the rights to develop a movie musical called “Hope” with musician and actor Chance the Rapper.

Chance’s longtime collaborator Nico Segal — the Grammy- winning writer-producer formerly went by stage name Donnie Trumpet — will oversee the creation of the film’s music. Empire writer Carlito Rodriguez will pen the original screenplay.

Hope will follow a group of Chicago teenagers who band together to turn art into action within their community.

Also attached to the project is Chance’s manager Pat Corcoran and his Haight Films, as well as Straight Outta Compton producer Scott Bernstein and his Tradecraft banner.

Motion picture group president Jonathan Glickman and co-president of production Adam Rosenberg will oversee the project on behalf of the studio. The deal was brokered by UTA and Ziffren Brittenham.

“From day one, our mission at Haight Films has been to apply Haight Brand’s artist-first and Chicago-proud ideology to the film space. We are incredibly excited to be working alongside Chance, MGM and Scott Bernstein to bring this vision to life,” said Corcoran

Added Glickman: “Chance and Nico are undoubtedly two of the most influential and innovative artists of their generation. We feel thrilled, privileged and eager to be collaborating with them on such a unique project.”

Chance, whose last album, Coloring Book, became the first to chart on the Billboard 200 based solely on streaming, has begun to venture into Hollywood. He starred in direct-to-streaming A24 thriller Slice and is set to voice star in Universal’s Trolls sequel. Source: HR