Earlier this year, the film industry was pretty shocked that Jennifer Lopez didn’t score her first Oscar nomination for her performance in the critically-acclaimed drama, “Hustlers.” Having acted for decades now, Lopez was expected to finally get some well-deserved recognition for her work but was instead snubbed by the Academy. Well, that hasn’t stopped her from landing a major film for her follow-up, the crime drama titled “The Godmother.”
According to Deadline, Lopez is set to star as real-life Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco, aka The Godmother, in an aptly titled drama from screenwriter William Monahan. And to make the film even more intriguing, the report claims that Reed Morano, famed director of “The Handmaid’s Tale” and the recent action-drama “The Rhythm Section,” is in talks to helm.
Monahan is probably best known for his Oscar-winning work on the script for the Martin Scorsese film, “The Departed,” one of the better crime dramas in recent memory. In addition to that film, he also scripted “The Edge of Darkness,” “Body of Lies,” and most recently, “Mojave,” which he also directed.
As mentioned, Morano is probably best known for her Emmy-winning work on “The Handmaid’s Tale,” but she’s been very busy, as of late, with a variety of film projects, as well as her exclusive TV deal with Amazon. Interestingly, it was reported last fall that she was in talks to helm another film from a script written by Monahan, which would have starred Zoe Saldana, titled, “Sabaya.” It’s unclear whatever happened to that project.
A release date is unknown and it’s also unclear when production on this film might happen. But with this team apparently coming together, “The Godmother” looks like a film worth checking out.