
Says Scorsese: "Lois Smith was a legend: warm, wise, funny and generous — one of the sharpest people in the business. She was my friend, and I am lucky to have known and worked with her."
Martin Scorsese has signed on to executive produce Malavita for Luc Besson‘s EuropaCorp and Relativity Media.
The action movie stars Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer and Tommy Lee Jones. Besson will direct.
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Scorsese consulted on the film in pre-production. Besson adapted it from Tonino Benacquista‘s novel Badfellas.
De Niro plays a retired mafia boss who, as part of the witness protection program, moves to a small town in France’s Normandy with his wife (Pfeiffer) and daughter (Dianna Agron).
Relativity Media is scheduled to launch the film in the U.S. in October.
Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com Twitter: @georgszalai