Escobar
is scheduled to be a 2009 film directed by Antoine Fuqua, based on the book Mi Hermano Pablo by Roberto Escobar, the true story of drug lord Pablo Escobar. The film is being produced by Oliver Stone and distributed on Justin Berfield's J2 Pictures. Escobar will star Edgar Ramirez in the title role. Filming will take place on location in Colombia and Puerto Rico. Filming is expected to commence in January 2008. The film is currently scheduled to be released on November 30, 2008.
Escobar is in direct competition with another Pablo Escobar biopic, Killing Pablo. Both films were announced around the same time, but Escobar is likely to come out earlier.
Recent interest in Pablo Escobar is credited to the fictional film, Medellín, from the HBO series Entourage. Producer Oliver Stone even said "This is a great project about a fascinating man who took on the system. I think I have to thank, Scarface, and maybe even Ari Gold."
Killing Pablo
is to be directed by Joe Carnahan, based on the book Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw by Mark Bowden, the true story of the death of Pablo Escobar. The film has been in development for several years and is set to begin production in early 2008. The plot claims to tell the true story of how the Colombian gangster and terrorist Pablo Escobar was assassinated and his Medellín cocaine cartel dismantled by US special forces and intelligence, the Colombian military, and a vigilante gang controlled by the Cali cartel. The cast is reported to include Javier Bardem as Escobar and Christian Bale as Major Steve Jacoby.
