‘Cocaine Godmother’: Five Join Catherine Zeta-Jones In Lifetime Movie

Lifetime is rounding out the cast for original movie Cocaine Godmother starring Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Directed by Guillermo Navarro, Cocaine Godmother is based on the life of Miami drug lord Griselda Blanco (Zeta-Jones), one the original “Cocaine Cowboys” who pioneered the drug trade between Colombia and the U.S. in the 70s and 80s. The film will go into production this year and premiere in 2018 on Lifetime.

Joining the cast are Jenny Pellicer (The Bridge) as Carolina, one of Griselda’s female lovers; Raul Mendez (Narcos) as Dario, associate of Pablo Escobar and Griselda’s third husband; Jose Julian (A Better Life)  as Uber, Griselda’s second-oldest son (she had 4 boys); Juan Pablo Espinosa (La Fan) as Alberto, one of Griselda’s criminal associates, and her second husband; and Warren Christie (The Catch) as Jimmy, DEA agent who hunted her down.

Blanco was living in Queens, NY, when she became embroiled with local drug runners. After moving to Miami to expand her empire, the death of her second husband gave rise to her nickname The Black Widow. She later moved to California, was deported to Colombia and was gunned down in 2012. In her lifetime, Griselda’s drug distribution network spanned across the United States and she was suspected of ordering over 200 murders.

Pellicer’s TV credits include recurring roles in The Bridge and State of Affairs. She’s repped by Richard Schwartz of Richard Schwartz Management. Mendez’s credits include major recurring roles on Narcos and Sense8. Julian is best known for his breakout role in Chris Weitz’s feature, A Better Life opposite Demian Bichir. He also starred in Pantelion’s Spare Parts, and recurs on Showtime’s Shameless. He’s repped by Paradigm and Underground. Espinosa starred as Lucas Duarte on La Fan and recurred on Narcos. Christie most recently appeared as Ethan Ward on The Catch, played Ryan Kane on Eyewitness and also recurred on Motive and Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce.

Cocaine Godmother is produced by Asylum Entertainment for Lifetime with Steven Michaels, Jonathan Koch, Joan Harrison and Alisa Tager executive producing. Navarro (Pan’s Labrynth, Narcos) will direct from a script written by David McKenna (American History X).