Robert De Niro has played and won just about everything you can imagine, but his new film still looks like a decent challenge for the star of The Godfather 2, GoodFellas and Casino. In The Alto Knights, De Niro plays two main roles. Although they are not related to each other, they are among the biggest names in American mafia history. Now there is the first trailer for the gangster epic.
Check out the trailer for The Alto Knights here:
The Alto Knights – Trailer (English) HD
The gangster drama tells of a real friendship that turned into enmity
Director Barry Levinson described the story of his 2023 film in an interview like this:
It’s about two best friends who were mafia figures, both held leadership positions, Vito Genovese and Frank Costello. They were best friends who became, in a sense, mortal enemies.
The story mainly takes place in New York in the 1950s. De Niro plays both Vito Genovese and Frank Costello, as the trailer shows, although Genovese can be recognized by his glasses.
Will & Grace star Debra Messing stars as Costello’s wife Bobbie. Cosmo Jarvis, who caused a stir last year with his leading role in Shogun, takes on the role of Vincent Gigante, who plays an important role in the rivalry between the two bosses, which will not be spoiled here.
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There are also some film legends behind the camera in The Alto Knights
The gangster film is directed by Barry Levinson, who worked with De Niro on the satires Wag the Dog and Inside Hollywood, among others, and who many film fans will remember from Good Morning Vietnam and Rain Man. As cameraman he was able to recruit Dante Spinotti, whose extensive filmography includes Heat and LA Confidential.
The The biggest name for genre fans is probably the now 91-year-old author Nicholas Pileggiwho became known with the non-fiction book Wise Guy about Henry Hill, adapted it for GoodFellas and also wrote the screenplay for Scorsese’s Casino. It would be hard to find a more top-class screenwriter for a factual drama set in the mafia milieu.
The Alto Knights starts on March 20, 2025 in German cinemas.