Back in April 2016, it was announced that Oscar winnerBenicio del Torowould star in a film about the Cuban mafia titledThe Corporation, based on the nonfiction book byT.J. English. Three years later, sources tell Collider that the project is moving forward, asTyler Hiselhas been hired to write the script for Paramount andLeonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way banner.
The film will follow the unique, untold story ofJose Miguel Battle Sr., the leader of “The Corporation," who was known among the Cuban-American community as “El Padrino,” aka “The Godfather.” Battle served as a key operative for Cuban leaderFulgencio Batista, bringing him his cut from the gambling casinos when the mafia ran Cuba. Battle escaped to the U.S. where he and his men were trained by the CIA to invade Cuba at the ill-fated Bay of Pigs. Having saved the lives of 28 of his men, the Godfather emerged from that debacle as a hero to many Cuban-Americans. The Corporation started out running a numbers racket before moving on to money laundering and murder. Though Battle and his associatesnever gave up the dream of bringing downFidel Castroand reclaiming Cuba, they were ultimately brought down by a detective who pursued them relentlessly for over 15 years.
Del Toro remains attached to play Battle, and DiCaprio is producing with his Appian Way partnerJennifer DavissonalongsideAndrew RonaandAlex Heinemanof The Picture Company, as well asJaydee FreixasandTony Gonzalez, the Miami-based rights-holders who maintain unparalleled access to the still-living subjects. Appian Way’sMichael Hamptonwill oversee the project on behalf of the company.
VinylscribeDavid Matthewswas tapped to write the script back in 2016, but sources say Hisel will be starting from scratch and taking the story in a different direction. His recent work includes the USA/UCP seriesTreadstone,M. Night Shyamalan’s Fox seriesWayward Pines, andGale Anne Hurd’s Amazon seriesLore. He also wrote the indie filmDark Was the Night, which was voted to the 2009 Black List. Hisel is currently developing another historical thriller at Paramount, which has yet to announce the project. He’s represented by manager-producer Alexander Robb of Insignia Entertainment and attorney Rob Szymanski of Eclipse Law.
The Corporationis hardly the only project that Appian Way is developing at Paramount, asEdward Berger(Patrick Melrose) is slated to direct a film about Volkswagen’s Clean Diesel scandal. you may read more about that project byclicking here.
