Robert De Niro will star in Warner Bros.’ gangster drama Wise Guys written by Goodfellas writer Nicholas Pileggi. Wise Guys will be the first original feature from Warner Bros. after merging with Discovery, which has created drama for streaming and theatrical releases in recent months. With Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav cutting and shelving projects, namely the cancellation of Batgirl and Scoob 2, a mobster period piece is an interesting choice for Warner Bros.' first original feature after the merger.
THR reports that Robert De Niro will play both Italian-American mob bosses that Wise Guys follows. The two crime bosses, Vito Genovese and Frank Costello, ran their respective families in New York in the middle of the 20th century, and Genovese attempted and failed to assassinate Costello in 1957. It will be interesting to see De Niro return to the genre that gave him his big break, and even more so because he is playing both starring roles.
In addition to De Niro starring, Barry Levinson is set to direct, known for movies like Rain Man and Wag the Dog. Irwin Winkler, who was a producer on Goodfellas and known for producing films like the Rocky movies, is attached to Wise Guys as a producer. De Niro is also working with Scorsese again for the upcoming film Killers of the Flower Moon, a western crime drama starring Leonardo DiCaprio alongside De Niro.
Source: THR