Jennifer Lopez is transforming Jenny From The Block into the Cocaine Queen, Griselda Blanco. J. Lo will not only be playing the role of Griselda in the upcoming film, The Godmother, but she is also producing it alongside Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Benny Medina, and Julie Yorn. The forthcoming biopic may also allow J. Lo to make her directorial debut.
Based on the real-life story of Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco, The Godmother, will tell the tale of the woman who outsmarted rivals to become one of the leading competitors in the Miami drug trade. Blanco was famous for creating distributor networks throughout the U.S.
In a recent press release, Lopez reflects on why she accepted the role and what it means to her. She goes on to say:
“I’ve been forever fascinated by the story of Griselda Blanco and jumped at the chance to play her on-screen...“She is all things we look for in storytelling and dynamic character — 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.”
J.Lo is collaborating with entertainment company STXfilms for the third time. In 2018, Lopez starred in Second Act, which earned $72 million at the global box office. Jennifer also teamed up with STXFilms for the upcoming Hustlers movie, which opens September 13th alongside co-stars Cardi B, Keke Palmer, and Constance Wu.
Griselda was known for her multiple monickers including “The Godmother,” “La Madrina,” “The Cocaine Queen,” and “The Black Widow.” Before her passing, Blanco was reportedly worth more than $2 billion due to her being apart of the Medellín Cartel and a key figurehead in Miami’s Cocaine Cowboy Wars. While she was alive, Griselda lived in Queens, New York for some time, expanding the cartel drug trade up the East Coast in the city during the ’70s.
In 2012, Blanco was murdered in the same brutal manner she had become notorious for - the motorcycle drive by. The Cocaine Queen was gunned down in the street by an assassin on a motorcycle as she was leaving a butcher’s shop in her hometown of Medellín, Colombia.
This isn’t the first time Griselda’s life tales are getting the Hollywood treatment. Back in 2017, Catherine Zeta-Jones portrayed Blanco in the Lifetime movie Cocaine Godmother: The Griselda Blanco Story. Griselda’s story was also featured in the 2008 documentary Cocaine Cowboys: Hustlin’.
Do you think Jennifer Lopez as The Godmother, Griselda Blanco is a great casting call? Let us know!