Jennifer Lawrence is set to star in the next film from Italian director Paolo Sorrentino, a mafia story called “Mob Girl,” the studio Makeready announced Wednesday.
Lawrence will star in and produce the film alongside Justine Polsky via their production company Excellent Cadaver. Sorrentino (“The Great Beauty,” “The Young Pope”) will direct and produce alongside Wildside’s Lorenzo Mieli.
“Mob Girl” is based on a true-crime story by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and author Teresa Carpenter about the life of Arlyne Brickman (Lawrence), a mob wife turned police informant. Angelina Burnett (“Halt and Catch Fire,” “The Americans”) is adapting Carpenter’s book, “Mob Girl: A Woman’s Life in the Underworld.”
Here’s the synopsis for the film, via the studio:
Growing up among racketeers on the Lower East Side of New York City, Arlyne Brickman associated with mobsters. Drawn to the glamorous and flashy lifestyle, she was soon dating “wiseguys” and running errands for them; but after years as a mob girlfriend, Arlyne began to get in on the action herself — eventually becoming a police informant and major witness in the government’s case against the Colombo crime family.
“Seeing this story from a woman’s point of view is a fresh and exciting approach to telling a classic mob story,” Makeready founder and CEO Brad Weston said in a statement. “We could not imagine a more perfect team of stellar filmmakers, with Jennifer starring in a tour de force role and Paolo at the helm, to bring Arlyne’s strength and unique perspective to life on screen.”
Makeready partner and head of film Pam Abdy and Natalie Williams will oversee for the studio. “Mob Girl” is the first project under the recently announced, first-look film deal between Excellent Cadaver and Makeready.
Lawrence and Polsky are currently in production on A24’s “Untitled Soldier Film” starring Lawrence and directed by first-time filmmaker Lila Neugebauer. Scott Rudin and Eli Bush are also producing for IAC. Lawrence is an Oscar winner for “Silver Linings Playbook,” and she most recently seen in “Dark Phoenix” and “Red Sparrow.”
Sorrentino and Mieli produced “The Young Pope” for HBO starring Jude Law and are currently in production on the “The New Pope,” with John Malkovich joining the cast. Both “The Young Pope” and “The New Pope” are created and directed by Sorrentino. Mieli runs Wildside, which is part of Fremantle, a global production company. The Rome-based producers are also the team behind “My Brilliant Friend,” another HBO series.
Lawrence is repped by LBI Entertainment and Hansen Jacobson. Sorrentino and Mieli are represented by UTA. Burnett is repped by MANAGE-MENT and Tara Kole at Gang, Tyre, Ramer and Brown. Josie Freedman at ICM represents Mob Girl.