MGM has nabbed rights to Ridley Scott’s true crime drama about the murder of fashion icon Guccio Gucci’s grandson Maurizio Gucci, Variety has confirmed.
Lady Gaga is in early negotiations to star in the project, which MGM will release on Thanksgiving 2021.
The film will be produced by Scott and Giannina Scott via their Scott Free Productions banner.
The screenplay is by Roberto Bentivegna and is based on the Sara Gay Forden book “The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed.”
The acquisition comes as Michael De Luca is beginning to put his imprint on the studio. The “Fifty Shades of Grey” and “Captain Phillips” producer was tapped to take over as chairman of MGM’s motion picture group in January. Earlier this week, De Luca hired veteran executive and producer Pamela Abdy as president of the motion picture group. She replaces Jonathan Glickman, who left that job three months ago.
In recent years, MGM has primarily focused on remaking its library titles such as “Ben-Hur” and spinning out more sequels to the James Bond films. It appears that De Luca is going to put a greater emphasis on developing and buying original properties. The studio’s latest Bond outing, “No Time to Die,” was scheduled to open in April, but has been postponed until January due to the coronavirus pandemic.