According to Deadline, New Regency has won a bidding war for a very provocative film package titled Rub & Tug, which is set to reunite star Scarlett Johansson (Avengers franchise, Lucy) with her Ghost in the Shell director Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman). The film will be a co-production between Joel Silver’s Silver Pictures, Tobey Maguire’s Material Pictures and Johansson’s These Pictures production companies.
Rub & Tug is based on the life of 1970’s Pittsburgh crime kingpin Jean Marie Gill, a woman who masqueraded as a man in order to run a massage parlor and prostitution business. She also ran a an anabolic steroids ring for NFL team the Pittsburgh Steelers, and used her connections in the gay community to circumvent the mob. The film will also focus on Gill’s fiery romance with her girlfriend Cynthia.
Sanders will direct from a screenplay by Gary Spinelli (American Made, Chaos Walking), with Johansson, Spinelli, Joel Silver, Tobey Maguire, Matthew Plouffe and Jonathan Lia producing. Silver Pictures president Hal Sadoff will executive produce Rub & Tug with Ethan Erwin, Sarah Meyer, Richard Weinberg, and Brendan Koerner.
Johansson is currently filming JoJo Rabbit for director/co-star Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok), and is attached a Black Widow standalone film at Marvel Studios following her role in Avengers 4.
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
