Mexican Drug Lords New Trend In Hollywood? Armie Hammer To Make Movie About Edgar Valdez Villareal 'La Barbie'

Actor Armie Hammer, known for his roles in “The Social Network,” “Man From U.N.C.L.E.,” and “The Lone Ranger,” revealed he has secured the rights for Mexican cartel leader Edgar Valdez Villareal aka “La Barbie.” “Owning La Barbie’s life rights was the most important thin to us,” Hammer said during an exclusive interview with Buzzfeed. “We knew that having direct access to him meant access to stories that were never intended to see the light of day.”

The thrilling news come at a time when another infamous kingpin, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, continues to make the headlines after Rolling Stone magazine published an article that disclosed a private meeting between the Sinaloa Cartel leader and actors, Sean Penn and Kate Del Castillo, while he was still a fugitive. Several sources have mentioned that Del Castillo’s intentions behind the gathering were to establish a business relationship with el capo and to discuss the potential of a film production about Guzmán’s life. Both, Penn and Del Castillo are currently under investigation.

“La Barbie,” one of “El Chapo’s” most notorious rivals, was extradited to the United States from Mexico in October 2015. The former leader of the Beltrán Leyva Brothers Cartel had been accused of organized crime, possession of ammunition exclusive to the Mexican army, murder, and was wanted by the Louisiana court for narcotrafficking and money laundering. He has also been linked to the death of famous Mexican singer, Jenni Rivera. Currently, he is facing life in prison after pleading guilty earlier this month in Atlanta.

Buzzfeed reports Hammer’s quest to get the rights to tell Valdez Villareal’s story began in 2012, when the 29-year-old actor was locked up in Sierra Blanca, Texas, after he was caught at a border checkpoint with three medicinal marijuana cookies and a brownie. His wife, journalist Elizabeth Chambers-Hammer, contacted El Paso’s top lawyer, Kent Schaffer, who turned out to also be “La Barbie’s” attorney, to get him out of jail. The case was later dismissed but an opportunity was born.

“It was very serendipitous that our paths would cross with Edgar,” Hammer said, “but once we heard more, we knew this was something we had to jump on.” A television series or movie based on the drug lord’s life is in Hammer’s near future, but he declared there is no timeline for the project.