It looks like an oft-rumored historical figure is finally getting a film, as Benicio del Toro is set to portray Colombian cocaine trafficker Pablo Escobar in the romantic-thriller Paradise Lost.
Variety writes on the project, “Inspired by true events, pic turns on Nick, a young surfer who visits his brother in Colombia and falls madly in love with a beautiful local girl called Maria. Their romance seems idyllic until he meets her uncle, Escobar.”
Italian actor Andrea di Stefano, who is set to appear in Ang Lee’s Life of Pi, wrote the screenplay and is set to make his directorial debut with the project.
To recap a bit, Pablo Escobar is a figure who has attracted Hollywood for years. A few years ago both Killing Pablo, from The Grey director Joe Carnahan, and Escobar, from Training Day director Antoine Fuqua and producer Oliver Stone, were in development. However, both fell through. In the fictional realm, HBO’s Entourage had lead character Vincent Chase portray Escobar in the film Medellin, although del Toro and di Stefano will hope this project is more successful.
Producer Dimitri Rassam described the unique take on the character, saying it “will have a narrative structure in the vein of The Last King of Scotland, weaving Nick and Maria’s romance with Nick’s ambivalent and destructive relationship with Escobar.” Obviously The Last King of Scotland was a major success, garnering Forest Whitaker an Oscar win.
The project is scheduled to film in March in Panama with an 11-week production schedule. We’ll be sure to follow the casting of the other two leads, Nick and Maria, as that date draws nearer. In the meantime, it’s exciting to see an actor with del Toro’s talents portraying such an iconic figure.