Following the success of her movie A Star Is Born, which earned her a couple of Academy Award nominations (one she won for Best Original song), Lady Gaga proved that she's earned her spot in the entertainment industry beyond music. Now, it seems like another acting project has caught her fancy; this time it will be in collaboration with acclaimed filmmaker Ridley Scott.
Following the director's lineup of impressive filmography, including Alien (1979), Thelma & Louise (1991), and Gladiator (2000), Scott will take on the true-crime story of the murder of Maurizio Gucci, grandson of Italian fashion house founder Guccio Gucci. Gaga was cast to play Maurizio's ex-wife, Patrizia Reggiani, who was convicted of orchestrating the crime and served 18 years in prison prior to her release in 2016. While the discussion about the project is reportedly still in its early stages, it's been confirmed that it will take reference from author Sara Gay Forden's book The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed. Sounds thrilling, doesn't it?
So while waiting for more casting updates, clearer storyline details, and of course, the projected release date, we're throwing in our predictions below on what we expect to see onscreen!
The movie will have a linear timeline
Going on timeshifts between the past and the present is one of today's most common film formats when dealing with true-crime. Flashbacks are often exhausted (not necessarily in a bad way) to create contrast between the relationships of the characters involved in the plot's impending tragedy to deliver a compelling narrative despite the predictable ending (as how it is in every biopic). One example would be TV drama anthology American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, which played out this type of storytelling effectively.
However, given Ridley Scott's directing style, this movie may avert from this treatment completely. Scott prefers to create the tone and mood of his movies through colour grading and contrast rather than reliance on flashbacks. Therefore, we may be seeing a traditional type of format, where we explore Maurizio's childhood and his eventual relationship with Gaga's character, with whom he had two children.
It will involve a lot of family drama (and a Tom Ford cameo?)
Putting up a business with family is no easy feat and as expected, it caused a lot of rift between the Guccis. After the passing of the family's patriarch Guccio, his sons split the company's shares, excluding the youngest brother Rodolfo, Maurizio's father. However, after the passing of one of the three elder brothers, the eldest, Aldo, decided to split the company 50-50 with Rodolfo instead — much to the dismay of the rest of the family. This is because Rodolfo was much more interested in filmmaking than taking over the family business.
Where does Maurizio come in? Well, he was slated as the saviour of the company after almost hitting bankruptcy. Not that he did a good job at it, considering that he was said to have led a lavish lifestyle (lavish being an understatement), but it was under his leadership that the brand hired Tom Ford as creative director, launching both Gucci and Ford's legendary footprint on today's fashion scene.
There's going to be a supernatural plotline
Okay, this might sound weird, but apparently, Maurizio and Patrizia's relationship involved a lot of supernatural details even years after Patrizia's conviction. First off, after their split in the '90s, Maurizio was said to be so unnerved by his ex-wife's spiritual presence that he hired a maga bianca (white shaman) to cleanse his mansion of her evil spirit.
Not only that, but even after years of his death, many believed that he was still preventing his ex-wife from getting released from prison. This was because when she requested to serve the rest of her sentence on house arrest due to ill health in the early 2000s, it was reported that everyone who came in contact with the court papers became inexplicably sick, some even getting rashes all over their skin. It was later confirmed that the sickness was due to a certain bacteria that latched onto the papers when they were being stored in Rome after the case, but many people still believed that it was 'Maurizio's curse' and that he was still out for revenge. Creepy, right?
Lady Gaga will slay (we're already counting on it)
Speaking of the shamans and curses, we can already tell that Lady Gaga will ace this role should they go for the supernatural route given her American Horror Story experience. Prior to her dramatic role in ASiB, she's also played convincingly hair-raising characters such as The Countess in AHS: Hotel and the witch Scathach on the TV anthology's succeeding season, Roanoke.
Speaking of movies, here are flicks to add to your Netflix binge-list this November.
