Robert De Niro is cast twice for his new film “Wise Guys”. According to the Hollywood Reporter, he plays both main roles in the gangster drama.
It’s not only a (unsurprising) return to one of his favorite genres – De Niro revived films like Casino, The Godfather II and Goodfellas – but also a reunion with director Barry Levinson, whom he met in 1997 co-directed the political comedy Wag The Dog and 2008’s Inside Hollywood.
Wise Guys tells the story of the lives of Italian-American family patriarchs and crime bosses Vito Genovese and Frank Costello, who fell out in the mid-20th century. In 1957, Genovese tried to assassinate Costello, but failed. However, the incident prompted Costello to take an unusual step: he surrendered his power to Genovese and retired.
Wise Guys was screenplayed by Nicholas Pileggi, who knows gangster movies well. The writer has already provided the templates for “Casino” and “Goodfellas” and co-produced “American Gangster”.
Robert De Niro makes it exciting
In addition to “Wise Guys”, there are other high-profile roles for Robert de Niro to play. The actor is set to reunite with favorite director Martin Scorsese on his next film, Killers Of The Flower Moon, due out in 2023, and has previously appeared in David O. Russell’s period comedy Amsterdam, where he stars in a cast with Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, Chris Rock, Anya Taylor Joy and Mike Myers.