After her turn as the Collins matriarch in Dark Shadows, actress Michelle Pfeiffer has signed on for another motherly role in Luc Besson's Malavita.

The story, adapted from Tonino Benacquista's novel Badfellas, centers around the Manzoni clan, a mafia family who are relocated to France under the witness protection program. Despite their efforts to adapt to their new surroundings, they find themselves reverting back to their gangster tactics. Robert De Niro is playing the head of this family, while Michelle Pfeiffer portrays his wife.

We first reported on this project last week, when Relativity Media signed on to develop this project with Luc Besson's EuropaCorp. Luc Besson will direct from his own screenplay, with production scheduled to begin this August.

The project serves as a reunion for Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro, who both starred in Matthew Vaughn's Stardust and Garry Marshall's New Year's Eve.