There may not be a Sopranos movie in the pipeline, but that doesn't mean Hollywood has officially whacked the Mafia. The LA Times reports that someone has finally landed the rights to produce a biopic on the life and times of infamous gangster, Lucky Luciano. Throughout the years, several Hollywood studios have tried to snag the rights away from Luciano's family, who have been reluctant to give them up. But now, producer Joseph Isgro (Hoffa) has somehow managed to land the goods, and he claims to have already approached a "specific A-list actor" to play the lead role. He's also said to be "wooing several actors from The Sopranos to join the cast." Considered the father of modern organized crime, Luciano was named one of the 20 most influential builders and titans of the 20th century. But he also helped orchestrate a number of gangland killings, as well as a massive international heroin operation, along the way.

According to Isgro (who's repeatedly denied his own ties to the Mafia), the film will cover all of Luciano's life, but focus mainly on his time in prison and the period after he received a presidential pardon for using the Mafia to help the government during World War II. Apart from actors, Isgro has also interviewed potential writers and directors; one of which is Charles Matthau, son of Walter Matthau. Currently, New Line is in talks to distribute.

New York Post

August 12, 2007 -- THE life story of Lucky Luciano is finally coming to the big screen. Producer Bob DeBrino - who holds the movie option to "The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano," by the late Martin Gosch and former N.Y. Times reporter Richard Hammer - is pitching studios a film about the Sicilian-born mob boss who helped the U.S. win World War II from his prison cell by ensuring labor peace on the docks. The crime kingpin, who was freed and exiled in 1946, collaborated with the authors on the condition that the book not be published until a decade after his 1962 death. New interest in Luciano was sparked by Joe Isgro, a former music promoter who in 2000 was sentenced to 50 months in jail for extortion and loan- sharking. Isgro surfaced in Hollywood claiming he had the rights to the Luciano story. "Rights to what?" Hammer sputtered. "There are no rights." Luciano has no surviving relatives. Isgro created some confusion around Tinseltown, says DeBrino, but he's pressing on. Being Italian is not a prerequisite for the lead role - DeBrino's wish list includes George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp.