TV
Cocaine Godmother (Lifetime 2018, Catherine Zeta Jones)
Lifetime has greenlit the original movie, Cocaine Godmother, starring Academy Award and Tony Award-winning actress Catherine Zeta-Jones and directed by Academy Award-Winning Cinematographer Guillermo Navarro. Cocaine Godmother is based on the life of drug lord Griselda Blanco, who was a pioneer in the Miami-based cocaine trade. The crime drama will go into production this year and premiere in 2018 on Lifetime.
Cocaine Godmother explores the complicated life of Griselda Blanco, who, at just 17, made her way to the U.S. with a fake passport with her first husband Carlos. Living in Queens with her three sons, Griselda became enticed by the money the drug world offered, and quickly became embroiled with local drug runners. Griselda masterminded the use of beautiful women, the elderly and children as the mules and created false-bottom suitcases to smuggle cocaine from Colombia. With money rolling in, her sons abandoned school and entered the family business instead.
A move to Miami would further expand Griselda’s empire, and lead to the death of her second husband Alberto, giving the rise to her nickname, The Black Widow. Her willingness to use violence against her Miami competitors, led her rivals to make repeated unsuccessful attempts to kill her. In order to protect her youngest son with third husband Dario, Griselda moved to California where she was later arrested by the DEA and sentenced to a decade in jail. The case against her collapsed and upon her release, she was deported to Colombia, where she was ultimately 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.
cast
Catherine Zeta Jones as Griselda Blanco
key behind the scenes crew
David McKenna as Writer
Guillermo Navarro as Director
Steven Michaels
Jonathan Koch
Joan Harrison
Alisa Tager
show type
Crime drama, true story, movie of the week
broadcast from
Currently in production for broadcast in 2018.
network and production companies
Lifetime