An Offer He Couldn’t Refuse

Besson producing mob novel adaptation


by empire |
Published on

Luc Besson has plans to produce an adaptation of Tonino Benacquista’s mob novel Malavita. And he’s picked someone with just a little experience of gangster fiction – Sopranos staff writer Michael Caleo.

Malavita follows an American mob boss who’s spirited away to France under the witness protection programme. Soon after arriving in a small, quiet town, he starts getting back into his old ways and trying to run the place, much to the annoyance of the FBI.

"The book focused more on the fish-out-of-water tale, but the movie will focus more on the manhunt for Giovanni Manzoni (the main character), and how he rose through the ranks to become who he is," Caleo told Variety. There’s no director attached yet, but whoever takes the job will apparently have to handle shooting half in English and half in French, with subtitles where needed.

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