Mandalay grabs 'Passion'

Studio scores film rights to Pappas film

By DAVE MCNARY

Pappas

Mandalay Integrated Media Entertainment has snagged film rights to the life story of Kevin Pappas, a reformed underworld crime figure who was convicted for his role in one of the world's biggest drug seizures.

Project's dubbed "Passion for Power" and will trace Pappas' life as the illegitimate son of an East Coast crime boss and his ascent into the world of drug trafficking, racketeering and money laundering. Pappas served more than a decade in a federal penitentiary, married a former Miss Hawaii and learned how to work the system by participating as a covert operative while using the government's own rules against itself to negotiate his ultimate freedom.

He also turned down the opportunity to earn his freedom by being involved in a sting operation against his biological father. MIME president David Salzberg said he was attracted to the story's complexity.

"It has the elements of an inspirational love story, personal retribution and the dangerous and sometimes violent world of Greek organized crime, a culture that has yet to be exposed."

Pappas told Daily Variety he'd been approached on multiple occasions about film deals but had waited until MIME offered because he wanted the project to focus on the redemptive aspects of his life. "Life in the federal penitentiary system usually means you're going to die there, so that's what motivated me -- wanting to regain my life and go home."

Rhaz Zeisler, Don Mandrik and Skye MacQueen will exec produce "Passion for Power."

MIME is part of Mandalay Entertainment Group, chaired by Peter Guber.