Dear Fidel will see Jennifer Lawrence play Fidel Castro’s lover and would-be assassin, Marita Lorenz
Academy Award winner and current nominee Jennifer Lawrence has just lined up a new project in the form of Marita. The Hollywood Reporter has the news, explaining that the true story arrives from American Hustle co-writer Eric Warren Singer. Marita would showcase the life of Marita Lorenz. Lorenz famously met Fidel Castro when she was 19 and, over the years, was both his lover and would-be assassin.
Lorenz’s story was the subject of a 2001 documentary, titled Dear Fidel. That film sums up Lorenz’s incredible story with the following official description:
Dear Fidel . . . With these words Marita Lorenz begins her letter to the Cuban leader in the spring of 2000. She met him as a nineteen-year-old on board the Berlin where her father was captain. They began an affair and she became pregnant by him. After eight months of passion Fidel Castro lost interest in her and Marita was given another shock when, in her sixth month, she was forced to undergo an abortion. She meant nothing to Fidel anymore but she attracted the attention of the CIA. However, Marita did not fulfil her task – to kill Castro. Nevertheless, she continued working for the American government. There then followed a series of colourful episodes – an affair with a former Venezuelan dictator, involvement in the Watergate scandal, a secret mission during which she met Lee Harvey Oswald, later accused of assassinating president Kennedy, espionage for the FBI, contact with Mafia bosses…
Sony Pictures is developing Marita with Matt Tolmach attached to produce. It’s noted that, thanks to recent embargoes being lifted, Marita may take up production in Cuba itself. Check back for updates as they become available.
(Photo credit: Andres Otero / WENN.com)
