Bleecker Street has acquired North American rights to Catherine Hardwicke’s action-comedy Mafia Mamma, starring Toni Collette (The Staircase, Nightmare Alley), Monica Bellucci (The Matrix franchise, The Man Who Sold His Skin) and Rob Huebel (The Descendants, The Goldbergs), which is heading into production in Italy in May.

The Vocab Films, IDEA(L) and New Sparta production is based on an original idea from acclaimed French novelist, screenwriter and filmmaker Amanda Sthers (Promises, Madame). It centers on Kristin (Collette), who is facing a slew of challenges. Her only son is desperate to leave for college, her boss is a sexist pig, and she just caught her unsuccessful musician husband (Huebel) cheating with a groupie. That’s when she receives a life-changing phone call from Bianca (Bellucci), her estranged grandfather’s trusted consigliere, telling her he is dead and that she must attend the funeral in Italy.

Egged on by Jenny, her outspoken best friend and lawyer, Kristin is persuaded that this is exactly what she needs—a free trip to Europe full of pasta, wine, and beautiful men. The trip gets off to a perfect start, but when her grandfather’s funeral explodes into a bloody gunfight, she finally learns the truth. Kristin isn’t just there to meet the family; she is there to be the new boss of the fiercest Mafia family in Calabria. Guided by Bianca, Kristin must take the reins of the organization and find out what she is really made of.



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