Catherine Zeta-Jones has signed on to star in the biopic The Godmother, playing true-life female drug kingpin Giselda Blanco.

Giselda Blanco was the only woman to ever rise through the ranks of Colombian's notorious Medellin cartel, a feared figure during the drug wars that exploded in Miami during the 1970s and 1980s. She was said to have ordered hundreds of assassinations to attain her grip on the drug trade, which earned her nicknames such as La Madrina, Black Widow, and the Cocaine Godmother. Her story was also told in the 2006 Magnolia Pictures documentary Cocaine Cowboys.

Blanco was born in Cartegena, Colombia, spending her childhood as a teenage runaway and prostitute before emigrating to New York City. Along with her husband, she started a cocaine business before she was forced to flee back to Colombia to escape federal charges. Blanco later resurfaced in Miami, where she set up a drug network between Los Angeles, New York, Miami and Colombia. She was arrested in 1985 where she served 18 years in prison before being deported back to Colombia. She died in 2012 from a motorcycle drive-by shooting.

Norwegian filmmaker Eva Sørhaug (90 Minutes) is directing from a screenplay by Frank Baldwin. No production schedule was given. Catherine Zeta-Jones most recently starred in Side Effects and Red 2.