©Courtesy of Warner Brothers
Warner Brothers has dropped a new trailer for Barry Levinson‘s upcoming gangster film “The Alto Knights” has an Oscar-winning star in Robert De Niro. De Niro plays both Vito Genovese and Frank Costello, the real-life mafia leaders of New York’s Genovese crime family in a double role.
Alongside De Niro, the movie stars Debra Messing as Costello’s wife, Bobbie, Kathrine Narducci as Genovese’s wife, Anna, and Cosmo Jarvis.
De Niro has been involved in numerous crime thrillers, particularly those with mob connections. One of his first films was Martin Scorsese’s 1973 feature “Mean Streets“, where he starred alongside Harvey Keitel.
In 1974, De Niro teamed up with Francis Ford Coppola to produce The Godfather Part II, and then collaborated with Scorsese once more on his 1990 mob film, “Goodfellas.” In addition to these projects, De Niro has appeared in “Casino,” “A Bronx Tale,” “Heat“, and numerous other crime dramas.
Frank Costello, an Italian American criminal from the Luciano family, lived and operated in New York City. Following Vito Genovese’s assassination attempt in 1957, he retired and eventually became his successor. The tale of Costello and Genovese has been passed down for decades. In fact, they worked side-by-side as associates of Charlie ‘Lucky’ Luciano, the Sicilian leader of Manhattan’s Lower East Side gang, as far back as 1920.
Warner Bros.’ “The Alto Knights” hits theaters on March 21. Watch the trailer below.