Lone Scherfig, the Danish director of Oscar-nominated An Education, is to direct Mob Girl, based on the book of the same name by Teresa Carpenter according to Pajiba.
The book is a true story of the life of Arlyne Brickman, a Mafia-insider-turned-informant whose evidence helped to put away Anthony Scarpati of the New York Colombo crime family. A synopsis of the book is below:
From an early age, Arlyne Brickman associated with petty and some not so petty racketeering figures, starting with her grandmother and father. Intoxicated by the glamour and flash, she made herself “indispensable” to wiseguys by running errands, carrying packages, or offering her home as a meeting place or safe haven—not to mention the dozens of mob figures with whom she slept. Before long, she vaulted from an adjunct role into the thick of bookmaking, loansharking, and drug dealing. Over a 30-year career, she had eight abortions and endured beatings, humiliations, and a brutal rape, eventually becoming a government informant and witness.
The material clearly provides many weighty subjects for Scherfig to approach, who will look to avoid the end result becoming a thoroughly gloom-laden affair and emulate similarly-themed Donnie Brasco. It could be a while before production starts, as Scherfig has lined up One Day as her next project and Mob Girl is currently without a writer, although Jessica Biel is set to star as Brickman and produce the film.
Have you read Mob Girl? Do you think Lone Scherfig is the right director for the project?