Eva Mendes, Josh Hartnett and Ben Kingsley have joined the Jonathan Jakubowicz's female-driven actioner "Queen of the South" (La reina del sur) reports the trades.

An adaptation of the best-seller by Spanish author-journalist Arturo Perez Reverte, the story tracks a Mexican woman who escapes to Spain after her drug-runner boyfriend is murdered.

Teresa becomes the reigning drug smuggler in Spain, bent on avenging her lover. Hartnett plays a Marine who gets involved in her business, and Kingsley plays a Russian businessman.

Jakubowicz co-wrote the screenplay with Albert Torres. Shoot begins in Mexico and Spain starting this September.