What’s better than a gangster film starring Robert De Niro? A gangster film starring two Robert De Niros, obviously. To the delight of anyone with even a passing interest in the Mafia genre, the extremely well-versed actor is set to play two legendary crime bosses in upcoming crime thriller Alto Knights. Keen observers of such things may recognise the film by its former title, Wise Guys.
Without further ado, here’s everything we know about the film so far.
What is Alto Knights about?
The film will tell the story of two real-life Italian-American crime bosses, Vito Genovese and Frank Costello. Genovese and Costello were contemporaries in the American Mafia scene in the mid-20th century. In the 50s, Genovese led an unsuccessful assassination attempt on Costello, causing the latter to retire from the crime game. What exactly a Mafia boss’ retirement looks like is anyone’s guess.
The Wise Guys cast
In a neat twist, De Niro will play both characters. He’s certainly got enough experience in the genre, having played gangsters in *deep breath*: Mean Streets, Goodfellas, Casino, The Irishman, The Godfather Part II, Heat, Once Upon a Time in America, American Hustle, Analyse This, Jackie Brown, The Untouchables and, most importantly, that bagel advert from a few years back.
His collaborations with Scorsese, in particular, are iconic, but it was his starring role in The Godfather Part II that earned him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1975. If anyone can take on the role of two crime bosses, it’s De Niro.
Debra Messing will play Costello’s wife and Kathrine Narducci takes on Vito’s wife. We are very excited that Shōgun’s Cosmo Jarvis will be bringing some of his weirdo energy to the role of gangster Vincent Gigante.
Who else is involved?
Aside from De Niro, Alto Knights has some serious Hollywood pedigree involved. It will be directed by Oscar-winning Barry Levinson, the man behind classics such as Good Morning, Vietnam and Rain Man. Levinson has worked with De Niro on films What Just Happened and Wag the Dog. Most recently Levinson was involved in opioid TV drama Dopesick.
Nicholas Pileggi has written the script. That’s another reunion of sorts with De Niro, as Pileggi wrote Wiseguy and Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas, the books that inspired Goodfellas and Casino respectively, and he co-wrote the screenplay for both with director Martin Scorsese. Irwin Winkler, a producer on Goodfellas, is also a producer.
When is Alto Knights out?
Alto Knights has a planned theatrical release of 21 March 2025.
