Next up for Robert De Niro is Wise Guys, a gangster movie being produced by Warner Bros. Discovery. Mob movie director Barry Levinson has cast Robert De Niro, according to The Hollywood Reporter. In a satisfying return to the genre’s roots, author Nicholas Pileggi has reunited crime fiction readers with Martin Scorsese admirers. De Niro is a seasoned veteran of films about the mob. The second film in Francis Ford Coppola’s criminal epic trilogy, The Godfather Part II, earned the actor his first Oscar. After Goodfellas, he became known for his roles in other mafia-themed crime films including Casino, A Bronx Tale, The Untouchables, and The Irishman.
It was an easy decision for the newly created Warner Bros. Discovery to hire the actor for their upcoming movie given his impressive resume in these gangster-based films. Levinson, like De Niro, is one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. The director became famous because of his work on such films as Good Morning, Vietnam, Bugsy, Wag the Dog, and Rain Man, all of which were either comedies or tragedies. While the filmmaker has earned a remarkable 34 nominations for Oscars for his work, he won many times for Bugsy and Rain Man.
Most recently, Levinson has been credited for his work on the Hulu drama series Dopesick, in which he has played the roles of co-executive producer and director for the pilot and the second episode. To my knowledge, Wise Guys have not yet announced a release date. The screenplay was written by a familiar face from Goodfellas. The narrative of Goodfellas was adapted by Scorsese from Pileggi’s novel Wiseguy, published in 1985, thus the screenplay was in excellent hands, to begin with. Irwin Winkler, who worked on both Rocky and Goodfellas, has agreed to produce the film as well, adding even another A-lister to the cast.
The two most powerful members of the Mafia, Vito Genovese and Frank Costello will play the lead in this historical drama. Since they were both at the top of their own families and criminal organisations, they had a long-standing rivalry that culminated in 1957 when Genovese tried to eliminate Costello. Although Costello was not killed in the assassination attempt, he was injured, and so retired from his position as the head of the family. The likely answer to your question of who will feature opposite Robert De Niro as the second mafia leader may surprise you. In all likelihood, the actor from Taxi Driver will play both mob bosses, but this has not been officially confirmed. If this is real, then we can’t wait to witness one of our generation’s finest performers play opposite of himself in an effort to bring this astounding true event to life.