Ejiofor To Play A Drug Trafficker In ‘Marching Powder’
Chiwetel Ejiofor will play a drug trafficker in a film adaptation of the book Marching Powder: A True Story of Friendship, Cocaine, and South America’s Strangest Jail. The non-fiction book recalls the experiences of Rusty Young, a journalist, and Thomas McFadden, a criminal in an unusual Bolivian prison.
Thomas McFadden (Ejiofor) was a convicted drug trafficker who ran tours in Bolivia’s San Pedro prison. The prison was more like a city then a jail. Women and children lived inside with imprisoned family members, there were stores and restaurants, and inmates bought jail cells from real estate agents. Rusty Young, an Australian journalist, heard about McFadden and the prison, and he bribed guards to allow him to live inside and share a cell with McFadden. The two cataloged the strange things going on inside.
The film is still in development stages, and the project is being created specifically for Chiwetel Ejiofor (Deadline). The project will be executive produced by Jerry Kalajian.
