Al Pacino and Katie Holmes to star in mob thriller.

The 1973 kidnapping of John Paul Getty III in Rome is to be the subject of a new film titled Captivated starring Hollywood heavyweights Al Pacino and Katie Holmes.

Filming is set to get underway in the Italian capital later this month, with director Dito Montiel promising a different take on previous cinematic adaptations of the infamous crime that shocked the world.

John Paul Getty III, the 16-year-old grandson of the wealthy oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, was abducted in Rome and held for five months in southern Italy.

His grandfather, the richest man in the world at the time, eventually paid the hefty ransom but not before the kidnappers had mutilated his grandson.

• The story of the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III in Rome

Captivated will reportedly explore the unexpected and complex relationship that develops between Calabrian mafia boss Saro Mammoliti (played by Pacino in his older version), and Gail Getty (played by Holmes), the determined mother of the kidnapped teenager.

Captivated comes after Ridley Scott's 2017 film All the Money in the World and the FX television series Trust, both of which also tackled the Getty kidnapping.

The new film promises to add a new perspective to the mystery surrounding the Getty kidnapping, hinting at a "seductive game of chess" between the mafia boss and the desperate mother.

Image: Al Pacino at the 2014 Venice International Film Festival. Photo credit: Matteo Chinellato / Shutterstock.com.