Angelina Jolie Goes Full Mob Boss in a Gritty New Mafia Thriller
Angelina Jolie is stepping into the underworld as a female gangster, starring in and producing Sunny, a violent new mafia thriller from director Eva Sørhaug that has just begun production.
Angelina Jolie is back in the crime trenches. She just kicked off production on a new dark thriller called 'Sunny,' and yes, she’s both starring and producing. The hook: Jolie as a full-on female gangster. I’m listening.
The essentials
- Title: 'Sunny'
- Director: Eva Sorhaug (Tokyo Vice)
- Writer: William Day Frank
- Producers: Angelina Jolie, Nathan Klingher, Mark Fasano, Jeffrey Greenstein
- Status: Production has begun, per Deadline
- Jolie lately: Slowed down after 2021’s 'Eternals'; starred in 2024’s 'Maria' as Maria Callas; starred in 2025’s 'Couture'; next up is the comedy 'Anxious People' from director Marc Forster
What 'Sunny' is actually about
Deadline’s logline paints a tight, nasty thriller. Jolie plays a gangster mother stuck under the thumb of an abusive drug kingpin, doing whatever she has to do to protect her sons and herself. Then something devastating happens, and the whole movie shifts into a ticking-clock situation: she’s got only hours to figure out a permanent escape plan. Sounds lean, mean, and very much built for a star turn.
Early word on the tone
Producer Mark Fasano isn’t being coy about the vibe. He’s calling the world of the movie violent and straight-up selling Jolie’s performance as a jolt:
"People are going to be shocked by what she brings with this riveting character. This violent world that Eva and Angelina have crafted is grounded in survival and family led by a mother doing anything and everything within her power to protect her two boys."
Between Sorhaug’s Tokyo Vice pedigree and a logline built around a desperate overnight escape, this sounds like a contained, pressure-cooker crime story with Jolie front and center doing the steel-eyed, do-not-test-me thing. No complaints here.