Mendes, Hartnett, Kingsley join 'Queen'

Eva Mendes, Josh Hartnett and Ben Kingsley have signed to star in Queen of the South (La reina del sur).

Venezuelan director Jonathan Jakubowicz will helm the project from a screenplay he co-wrote with Albert Torres.

The movie is an adaptation of the novel by Spanish author-journalist Arturo Perez Reverte, which tells the story of an uneducated Mexican woman who flees to Spain when her drug-runner boyfriend is murdered.

She goes on to create a drug trafficking empire and conducts deals with mafia groups across Europe.

Shooting is scheduled to begin in Mexico and Spain in September.