Rihanna is to star in a new movie based on a tweet.

Rihanna

Rihanna

The Grammy Award-winning musician is to appear alongside Oscar-nominated actress Lupita Nyong'o in the new Netflix film, which stems from a photograph of them two of them sat side-by-side at a Miu Miu fashion show in 2014 that was used as a joke movie pitch on Twitter.

The original tweet read: "Rihanna looks like she scams rich white men and lupita is the computer smart best friend that helps plan the scans."

Both stars subsequently expressed their interest in the idea, and acclaimed director Ava DuVernay and Insecure writer Issa Rae soon threw their support behind the project, too.

The idea was pitched to various studios at this year's Cannes Film Festival and Netflix came out on top in the bidding process, according to Entertainment Weekly.

It is not yet apparent the extent to which the film will be based on the original tweet, but the streaming service is eager to debut the movie in 2018.

Ava responded to the news on Twitter, writing: "We deserve nice things."

Although Rihanna remains best known for her musical exploits, the Bajan beauty has also starred in a string of big-budget movies over recent years, including 'Battleship', and she will appear in 'Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets' later in 2017.

Cara Delevingne - who stars alongside Rihanna in 'Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets' - recently admitted the award-winning star is "mesmerising on set", despite her lack of acting experience.

Cara explained: "Rihanna is as mesmerising on set as she is on stage. She was born to act.

"There's a rare group of people that just have it, and she has it. What she does is astonishing."