Ridley Scott’s ‘Gucci’ Crime Drama Starring Lady Gaga Picked up By MGM

MGM was the first studio to announce a major theatrical release delay due to coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns and, even as the entire industry grinds to a halt amid the ongoing pandemic, continues to be one of the few Hollywood studios still making major deals. As MGM’s new film chairman Michael De Luca hires executives and reshapes the company, the studio has picked up Ridley Scott‘s true crime drama Gucci, based on the real-life murder of fashion house head Maurizio Gucci, and is in talks with Lady Gaga to star.

MGM has acquired Ridley Scott‘s Gucci, a true crime drama about the murder of fashion icon Maurizio Gucci, after a heated bidding competition with Netflix and at least one other streamer, according to The Hollywood Reporter. THR reports that MGM ultimately won out because it offered the opportunity for a theatrical release, which was a key selling point for Scott. Lady Gaga, fresh off her buzzy performance in A Star is Born, is in negotiations with the studio to star as Patrizia Reggiani, Gucci’s ex-wife who was convicted of orchestrating the murder after his affair.

Roberto Bentivegna pens the script based on Sara Gay Forden’s 2001 book The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed. The book takes readers “behind the scenes of the trial and exposes the passions, the power, and the vulnerabilities of the greatest fashion family of our times.”

“This project has long been a labor of love for both Ridley and me,” says Giannina Scott, who produces with husband Ridley via the couple’s Scott Free banner. “The story is so epic, the stakes so high and the characters so richly drawn that we were determined to get it to the big screen. To say we are thrilled to be teaming with Mike De Luca and his brilliant film group at MGM is an understatement. We can’t wait to see this come to life next year.”

Scott is set to begin shooting Gucci after finishing work on The Last Duel, a medieval drama starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon that was put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. But MGM is already looking ahead, setting Gucci for a November 24, 2021 release date. It’s not totally out of the realm of possibility for Scott, a notoriously fast-working filmmaker, to finish the film by then — the 82-year-old director famously reshot much of his 2017 thriller All the Money in the World in eight days after recasting Kevin Spacey’s role with Christopher Plummer.

The major deal for Gucci comes as MGM is reshaping its company from being more than “a library of IP” into one with a “future with original material,” THR reports. Film chairman Michael De Luca, who took the job in January, has already made some bold moves, hiring executives in March and early April and closing several “splashy” deals, including the recent Gucci deal. And while MGM is set to lose millions by pushing back its latest James Bond tentpole, No Time to Die, it seems like the studio is one of the few studios still operating confidently during this crisis.

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