Scarlett Johansson is reuniting with former coworker and director, Rupert Sanders, for a new upcoming movie. Johansson and Sanderson worked together on 2017’s, ‘Ghost in the Shell’. This new film is titled, ‘Rub and Tug’, a “massage parlor drama” that is based off the life of Jean Marie Gill. After a five studio bidding war, New Regency eventually won; in co-production with ilver Pictures, Maguire’s Material Pictures and Johansson’s These Pictures banners. Production is set to being in February of 2019, with a budget of more than $30 million. The script was wrote by Gary Spinelli. Producers for the film include: Joel Silver, Tobey Maguire, Scarlett Johansson, Matthew Plouffe, Gary Spinelli and Jonathan Lia. The films executive producers also include: Hal Sadoff Ethan Erwin, Sarah Meyer, Richard Weinberg, and Brendan Koerner.
Jean Marie Gill was a 1970’s “crime kingpin” in Pittsburgh’s Red Light district. This included: the Spartacus, the Japanese Meditation Temple and the Taurean. Jean took on the mob, rising to success with her illegal massage parlors. This of course inspired the films name, ‘Rub and Tug’. Gill was not only known for her special business; she also ran an anabolic steroid ring that in turn provided for the NFL Pittsburgh Steelers.
A big plot twist in Jean’s infamous story, is that she gained all of her “success” alongside her girlfriend, while crossdressing as a man. This is how she became so prominent, by portraying herself as a male, to gain societal dominance. It is said that Jeans friends of the LGBT community helped her grow her businesses heavily.
In her life, Jean was awarded the The Pittsburgh Press awarded Gill the “Dubious man of the Year” and “Dubious woman Of The Year”. Before her arrest in 1984 for income tax fraud, one of her parlors was mysteriously burned down to the ground. Another parlors employee was killed in a “letter bomb” incident. Gill passed away in 1987, at the age of 72.
The movie starring Scarlett Johansson will focus around the core of Gill’s romance with her girlfriend, Cynthia. The role of Cynthia, however, has yet to be casted. Fans are excited to see what this movie has in store. Since ‘Ghost in a Shell’ was a bit underwhelming, and did not do well in box offices, this could be a great chance of redemption for the Johansson and Sanders duo. Scarlett is also set to be the main character in Marvel’s upcoming film about Black Widow. ‘Rub and Tug’ does not yet have a release date, so there is a possibility that they could film the movie prior to the shooting of the Black Widow film in May 2019. Johansson will also be filming ‘JoJo Rabbit’, a WWII satire.
Fans and critics are looking forward to this new film with a strong female lead, based off of a strong woman. Scarlett has always delivered her prominent roles with power and ease, so this role seems to fit her perfectly. 2019 could be filled with Scarlett Johansson all over the big screen; and people seem to be just fine with that.
