Scarlett Johansson Will Play a Crossdressing Crime Kingpin in Director Rupert Sanders' RUB & TUG
Ghost in the Shell director Rupert Sanders is set to direct Scarlett Johansson in a new film called Rub & Tug. The film is based on a true story of Jean Marie Gill, who seemed like a very complex and colorful individual and her story is sure to make an interesting film. This is definitely going to prove to be one of Johansson's most challenging roles yet as she will be playing a crossdressing Mob operator who runs a massage parlor. For those of you not familiar with Jean Marie Gill, here's a rundown of information from Deadline:
Jean Marie Gill was a larger-than-life character who took on the mob and became the crime kingpin of 1970s Pittsburgh through her empire of illicit massage parlors and an anabolic steroids ring that helped fuel the Pittsburgh Steelers’ NFL dynasty, all the while cross-dressing and leaning on her allies in the gay community to help grow her empire. However, it is Jean’s fiery romance with her girlfriend Cynthia that truly defines her and forms the emotional core of the story.
Gill ran a string of Pittsburgh massage parlors in Pittsburgh’s Red Light district, including the Spartacus, the Japanese Meditation Temple and the Taurean. A former blacksmith with a long rap sheet of providing prostitutes, she was a colorful figure, known to drink and spout Irish poetry, the life of the party. When law enforcement raided Spartacus in 1978, Gill reportedly threw a birthday cake at an undercover state trooper. Her notoriety prompted The Pittsburgh Press to award gill the “Dubious man of the Year” and “Dubious woman Of The Year” titles, explaining: “She embodies business savvy, sexual confusion and an eye for fashion like no one since Michael Jackson.”
Her brazen defiance of the mob left the question who would end her first: rival criminal enterprises or law enforcement. One of her employees at the Gemini was killed after she opened a letter bomb that leveled the place. Another massage parlors was burned to the ground in a suspicious fire that killed several others. But it was law enforcement that brought her to heel in 1984 on income tax fraud. She was sentenced to a 13-year prison stretch, but got three years taken off when she agreed to close three massage parlors within 24 hours. She was released in 1987 and died at age 72.
As you can see, this is going to be a crazy role for Johansson to take on. It's so different and a lot more wild than anything that she's done before. I'm sure that she'll have some fun with it. She is currently shooting the Taika Waititi-directed film Jo Jo Rabbit and is also set to reprise her role in Marvel's Black Widow solo film.
The film is set up at New Regency, and Johansson is also producing it alongside Joel Silver and Tobey Maguire. The script comes from Gary Spinelli (American Made) and the film is said to start production in February with a budget of around $30 million.
What do you think about Johansson's latest movie role?