Ridley Scott‘s Gucci has added a new cast member: Jeremy Irons. Irons joins Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Jared Leto, and Al Pacino in the film, which tells the torrid story of Patrizia Reggiani, who tried to orchestrate the assassination of her ex-husband Maurizio Gucci, one-time head of the Gucci fashion house. Irons is playing Maurizio Gucci – a role that was originally reported as going to Robert De Niro. Talk of De Niro’s involvement in the project proved to be premature, and now the part belongs to Irons.

THR says that Jeremy Irons has joined Ridley Scott’s Gucci cast in a role that was previously intended for Robert De Niro. De Niro now has no involvement in the film. Irons will play Maurizio Gucci, one-time head of the Gucci fashion house. In 1995, Gucci was killed by a hitman, and his wife, Patrizia Reggiani, was later convicted of the crime. Lady Gaga is set to play Reggiani. Other cast members include Adam Driver, Jared Leto, Al Pacino, Jack Huston, and Reeve Carney.

Roberto Bentivegna penned the Gucci script, based on the Sara Gay Forden book The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed. Here’s the book’s synopsis:

In 1993, Gucci’s financial partner, InvestCorp, forced Maurizio Gucci, the last of the Gucci family to run the Gucci Corporation, out for draining company coffers with extravagant business practices. However, on March 27, 1995, the Gucci heir was slain as he approached his office building. In 1998, his ex-wife Patrizia Reggiani Martinelli was sentenced to 29 years in prison, for arranging his murder.

Did Patrizia murder her ex-husband because his spending was wildly out of control? Did she do it because her glamorous ex was preparing to marry his mistress, Paola Franchi? Or is there a possibility she didn’t do it at all?

This cast is pretty damn great, and this story sounds like it could make for some wonderful drama, so I’m very interested in seeing how it all turns out. This won’t be Scott’s first time making a movie about criminal activities within a wealthy family. In 2017 he directed All the Money in the World, about the kidnapping of the grandson of billionaire J. Paul Getty. That film originally featured Kevin Spacey as Getty, but after sexual misconduct allegations surfaced against the actor, Scott went back and reshot all of Spacey’s scenes with Christopher Plummer now playing the part. Scott’s next project is The Last Duel, which stars Adam Driver, Matt Damon, and Jodie Comer.

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