Robert De Niro faces off with Robert De Niro in the new trailer for The Alto Knights, a Barry Levinson-directed gangster movie in which De Niro plays two notorious New York’s crime bosses, Frank Costello and Vito Genovese, as they battle for control of the city’s streets.
The film follows the two former friends as they “petty jealousies and a series of betrayals place them on a deadly collision course that will reshape the Mafia (and America) forever,” according to Warner Bros’ description of the film, which was written by Oscar nominee Nicholas Pileggi, who wrote the De Niro films Goodfellas and Casino, both of which were directed by frequent De Niro collaborator Martin Scorsese.
The Alto Knights is produced by Oscar winner Irwin Winkler (Rocky, Goodfellas), as well as Levinson, Jason Sosnoff, Charles Winkler and David Winkler, with Mike Drake executive producing.
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The real Frank Costello, who died in 1973 at the age of 82 — a year older than De Niro is now — was the boss of the Luciano crime family. Vito Genovese took over the family in 1957, when it became known in law enforcement circles as the Genovese family. Genovese died in 1969 at age 71.
The Alto Knights marks the latest gangster movie high-wire act for De Niro, who played hitman Frank Sheeran from his 20s through his 70s in Scorsese’s The Irishman, with the aid of CGI.
Levinson previously directed De Niro in 1997’s Wag the Dog and the 2017 HBO film Wizard of Lies, in which De Niro played con man Bernie Madoff.
The Alto Knights was previously titled Wise Guys, which is similar to the title of Pileggi’s 1985 book Wiseguy, which was the basis for Goodfellas.
The new film also represents a return to the mob genre for Levinson, whose 1991 hit Bugsy starred Warren Beatty as the Hollywood-obsessed gangster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel.
The inherent risk-taking in De Niro playing the two leads in Alto Knights no doubt appeals to Levinson, who in 2023 told MovieMaker for a Things I’ve Learned as Moviemaker feature:
“There is some kind of excitement about not knowing where you’re going that fascinates me. It’s not a journey if you know exactly where you’re going. It becomes a journey to find something. It’s always a search, and for me, music has played a very big part in whatever I’ve been doing.”
The Alto Knights arrives in theaters March 21, 2025 from Warner Bros.
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