‘The Godmother’ Will Turn Jennifer Lopez Into A Drug Lord
Jennifer Lopezis going to build herself a drug empire inThe Godmother, a new movie based on the true story of Griselda “La Madrina” Blanco. Blanco was a Colombian drug lord of the Medellín Cartel and a major part of the Miami cocaine drug trade during the ’80s. Blanco was a major focus of theCocaine Cowboysdocumentaries.
A feature inspired by the documentaryCocaine Cowboyshas been knocking around Hollywood for a while now. The plan was for Mark Wahlberg toproduce, with Jennifer Lopez appearing in one of the lead roles – but nothing ever happened. Now it looks like Lopez got tired of waiting for Wahlberg, and in true badass fashion, said: “Fuck it, I’ll do it myself.” Now Lopez will produce and star inThe Godmotherfor STX Films.
The movie is based on the life of “the incredible rise-and-fall of Griselda ‘La Madrina’ Blanco who outsmarted and outhustled the men around her to rise from an impoverished childhood in Colombia to become one of the world’s biggest drug lords who reportedly was worth more than $2 billion, and was a key figurehead in Miami’s ruthless and murderous Cocaine Cowboy Wars.”
Regina Corrado (Deadwood: The Movie) and Terence Winter (The Wolf of Wall Street,Boardwalk Empire,The Sopranos) wrote the script. Terence Winter, Alex Pettyfer, Alex Brown and Rick Yorn will executive produce, while Lopez, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas and Benny Medina will serve as producers.
“I’ve been forever fascinated by the story of Griselda Blanco and jumped at the chance to play her on-screen,” said Lopez. “She is all things we look for in storytelling and dynamic characters – notorious, ambitious, conniving, chilling. In a genre dominated by legendary kingpins, I’m eager to shine a spotlight on this anti-hero and excited to partner with STX for the third time so we can bring this compelling, complicated story to life.”
Blanco’s criminal life has inspired many storytellers. Not only was the featured inCocaine Cowboys(2006) andCocaine Cowboys 2(2008), she was also the subject of the Lifetime movieCocaine Godmotherstarring Catherine Zeta-Jones. There was even aDrunk Historyepisode devoted to her – her story was told by an intoxicated Dan Harmon as Maya Rudolph played Blanco.
“We love working with Jennifer, Elaine, and Benny,” said STX motion picture chair Adam Fogelson. “They are extraordinary producers and we value their partnership and trust. This is an epic true crime story that Jennifer is passionate about telling and we can’t wait to begin production onThe Godmotherwith her and her team.”
