Jennifer Lopez
is headed for
HBO
.
The star of NBC’s
Shades of Blue
is set to
topline
and executive produce an untitled TV movie revolving around
late drug lord
Griselda
Blanco
,
The Hollywood Reporter
has learned.
The film, which is in development, focuses on the rise and fall of Blanco, the notorious drug lord known as “The Cocaine Godmother” who revolutionized the U.S. drug trade during the
1970s
and
1980s
and became the most powerful female cartel member of all time.
Lopez will star and executive produce via her
Nuyorican
Productions banner alongside company topper Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas and the singer-actress’ manager, Benny Medina, as well as
LBI
Entertainment’s Julie and Rick
Yorn
. Alex
Pettyfer
will co-executive produce alongside
Nuyorican’s
Priscilla
Porianda
and
LBI’s
Patrick
Walmsley
; the actor is attached only as a co-executive producer and it’s unclear if
Pettyfer
will have any onscreen role in the movie.
“I’ve been fascinated by the life of this corrupt and complicated woman for many years,” Lopez said Wednesday in a statement. “The idea of teaming with HBO felt like the perfect fit for finally bringing
Griselda’s
story to life.”
For Lopez, the HBO movie comes as production continues on season two of NBC drama
Shades of Blue
, which she also exec produces. The singer-actress has been making a major TV push of late, with Nuyorican also behind Freeform’s critical darling
The Fosters.
For HBO, the movie marks the premium cable network’s latest star-driven take following its Emmy-nominated Anita Hill entry
Confirmation
with Kerry Washington and Bryan Cranston’s
All the Way.
The HBO project also arrives as USA Network has found success with its female-driven drug kingpin drama
Queen of the South
, which was partially inspired by Blanco’s story.
Blanco was killed in Colombia in September 2012. She was the subject of documentary feature
Cocaine Cowboys
and allegedly gunned down her first two husbands. She is said to have trafficked 300 kilos of cocaine per month during the height of her operation and became a multimillionaire several times over during her 40s and reportedly ordered dozens of murders in order to keep her place at the top of Miami’s gangster heap. Blanco was arrested in 1985 and sentenced to almost two decades in a U.S. prison before being deported and, by reported accounts, going on to live a quiet life in Colombia’s second-largest city, Medellín, which has its own reputation as a favorite home base for drug kingpins and cartels.
Lopez is repped by CAA, Medina and Hirsch Wallerstein.