Biopics About Gangsters Cohen and Capone Planned
Is the mob taking over Hollywood?
Joining a slate of mob-related films already anounced is Warner Brothers' latest mobster biopic, Gangster Squad, focused on 1940s boxer-turned-gangster Mickey Cohen, according to ...ology.com. Based in Los Angeles, Cohen was an associate of Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel; this trio were perhaps the most famous (or infamous) of the Jewish racketeers/gangsters who worked with Luciano and the rest of the Italian Mafia in America.
Sean Penn is reportedly in talks to play Cohen and Ryan Gosling may co-star as one of the Los Angeles cops determined to bring Cohen down. Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer may direct. This isn't the only gangster biopic in the works at Warner bros, either: Cicero, the Al Capone story, is also being shopped around.
Sean Penn is reportedly in talks to play Cohen and Ryan Gosling may co-star as one of the Los Angeles cops determined to bring Cohen down. Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer may direct. This isn't the only gangster biopic in the works at Warner bros, either: Cicero, the Al Capone story, is also being shopped around.
These two films, still in the planning stages, join a herd of mob-related films currently in pre-production, among them:
- Fiore Films biopic, "Gotti: Three Generations," which so far will star John Travolta as John Gotti; directing will be Nick Cassavetes, actor-writer Leo Rossi wrote the screenplay, and Marc Fiore, an owner of Fiore Films, is a producer.
- Bobby Brown -- R&B singer-songwriter, occasional rapper, and dancer -- is in talks with mobster-rapper Tony Testa to commence production of a film based on Testa's Brooklyn family connection to notorious Gambino crime-family members, the DeMeo Crew. The story will be based on Testa's Uncle Patty, who transferred to the Lucchese family and was murdered in 1992. Brown was spotted dining at Trattoria Dopo Teatro with Testa, Sopranos star Joe Gannascoli and Chuck Zito about a possible role in the movie, which also may star Armand Assante.
- Robert De Niro will play Frank Sheeran -- the alleged hit man behind two of the most storied slayings in gangland: Jimmy Hoffa and Joe Gallo -- in the Martin Scorsese film, expected to be titled The Irishman. Based on the book, I Heard You Paint Houses, by Sheeran's former attorney, Charles Brand, it is based on extensive interviews Brandt conducted in the years before Sheeran's death in 2003. Steve Zallian, writer of Gangs of New York, penned the script, and Scorsese has said that filming could start later this year. Also set to star in the film are Al Pacino and Joe Pesci.
- Mob documentaries based on Sam Giancanna and the controversial conviction of John "Sonny" Franzese also are slated, though the directors of these films are seeking an episodic television format rather than a big-screen release.
- There are three scripts out there for Lucky Luciano films, a little birdie told me.
ALL DEAD BUT SONNY.--LAST OF A LINE
ReplyDeleteSonny's wife is his greatest champion and biggest liability. As much as she tries she is a tsunami, uncontrolled fury which destroys everything in its path. The latest effort to keep his case alive is a purely merceary effort to continue receiving weekly tribute. Sonny was framed in 67, the street knows it, the fbi did it, but tina will never prove it. Her efforts are amatuerish and self defeating. But if the reader is patient a full disclosure is on the way
ReplyDelete"They" the infamous power structure, runs a closed club. Outsiders not allowed. So those unwilling to be left out take what they want. These men were individuals, of strong will, who refused to be patsy's for the Wasp who believes they are entitled to decide who earns, and how much. Today those Wasps are called republicans, before that Tories, Whigs and federalists Men like Cohen, Capone Lucciano and their ilk never bowedo were cowed by these bullies. That is why there is such interest in their lives.
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