The Alto Knights

The Alto Knights is an upcoming American biographical crime drama film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Nicholas Pileggi. The film stars Robert De Niro in a dual role as 1950s mob bosses Vito Genovese and Frank Costello, with Debra Messing, Cosmo Jarvis, Kathrine Narducci, and Michael Rispoli in supporting roles.

The Alto Knights
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Barry Levinson
Written by	Nicholas Pileggi
Produced by	Irwin Winkler Barry Levinson Jason Sosonoff Charles Winkler David Winkler
Starring	Robert De Niro Debra Messing Cosmo Jarvis Kathrine Narducci Michael Rispoli
Cinematography	Dante Spinotti
Edited by	Douglas Crise
Music by	David Fleming[1]
Production company	Winkler Films
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date	March 21, 2025 (2025-03-21)
Running time	123 minutes[2]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$45 million[3]

The Alto Knights is scheduled to be released in the United States on March 21, 2025, by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Premise

Vito Genovese and Frank Costello are Italian-American mob bosses, and Genovese orders a hit on Costello. Costello survives but is wounded in the attempt and ultimately decides to retire from the Mafia.^[4]

Cast

• Robert De Niro as Vito Genovese and Frank Costello
• Debra Messing as Bobbie Costello, Frank's wife
• Cosmo Jarvis as Vincent Gigante
• Kathrine Narducci as Anna Genovese, Vito's wife
• Michael Rispoli
• Michael Adler^[5]
• Ed Amatrudo^[5]
• Joe Bacino^[5]
• James Ciccone^[6]
• Anthony J. Gallo^[5]
• Wallace Langham^[5]
• Belmont Cameli^[7]
• Louis Mustillo^[5]
• Frank Piccirillo^[5]
• Matt Servitto^[5]
• Robert Uricola^[5]

Production

The film, initially titled Wise Guys, was in the works from as early as the 1970s but over the decades was passed on by every major studio.^[8] Warner Bros. Pictures began work on the film in May 2022 and gave it the greenlight that August. Nicholas Pileggi wrote the script and Barry Levinson directed the film starring Robert De Niro in a dual role.^[9] In October 2022, Debra Messing and Kathrine Narducci joined the cast.^[10][11] In January 2023, Cosmo Jarvis joined the cast.^[4]

The production used vehicle vinyl wraps on 1950s-era cars and trucks to make the vehicles look new in the film.^[12] Filming took place in December 2022 in Ohio. The production shut down part of US 35 in Greene County,^[13] as well as SR 123 in the greater Cincinnati area before moving to the suburbs of Cincinnati.^[14] In October 2023, the film was re-titled Alto Knights; a trailer released in January 2025 revealed the final title to be The Alto Knights.^[15][1]

Release

The film is currently scheduled to be released on March 21, 2025.^[16] It was originally scheduled to be released on February 2, 2024, taking over the original release date of Warner Bros. Pictures Animation's Toto, and then on November 15, 2024.^[17][15] On October 24, 2023, Variety reported that, because of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, Warner Bros. was considering delaying the film's release to 2025.^[18]

References

1. Scorziello, Sophia (January 14, 2025). "The Alto Knights Trailer: Robert De Niro Plays Two Mafia Bosses in Barry Levinson's Crime Thriller". Variety. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
2. "The Alto Knights (2025)". Irish Film Classification Office. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
3. Fleming, Mike Jr (August 23, 2022). "The Batman Director Matt Reeves Sets Multi-Year First Look Film Deal At Warner Bros. & Re-Ups With Warner Bros Television". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation.
4. Ritman, Alex (January 24, 2023). "Cosmo Jarvis to Star Alongside Robert De Niro in Barry Levinson's Gangster Drama 'Wise Guys' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
5. Grobar, Matt (January 14, 2025). "The Alto Knights Trailer: Robert De Niro Goes To War With Robert De Niro In Barry Levinson Mob Drama". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
6. "Everything we know about 'Alto Knights'". faroutmagazine.co.uk. April 6, 2024.
7. "Everything we know about 'Alto Knights'". faroutmagazine.co.uk. April 6, 2024.
8. Belloni, Matthew (August 19, 2022). "Zaslav's Hamptons-Hollywood Vanity Project". Puck. Archived from the original on February 23, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
9. Kit, Borys (August 16, 2022). "Robert De Niro, Barry Levinson Team for Warner Bros. Gangster Drama Wise Guys (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. PMRC. Archived from the original on August 16, 2022. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
10. D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 12, 2022). "Debra Messing In Advance Talks To Join Robert De Niro In Warner Bros Barry Levinson Mob Pic Wise Guys". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 26, 2022. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
11. D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 26, 2022). "Kathrine Narducci Reteaming With Robert De Niro & Barry Levinson For Warner Bros Mob Pic Wise Guys". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 26, 2022. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
12. "Tri-State man gets shot to show his talents on Hollywood screen" (Video). Fox19. December 5, 2022. Archived from the original on December 14, 2022. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
13. "2 people from Greene County see filming of Robert De Niro movie Wise Guys". WHIO-TV. December 10, 2022. Archived from the original on December 19, 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2022 – via MSN.
14. "De Niro movie films in Warren County". Fox19. December 8, 2022. Archived from the original on December 19, 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
15. Murphy, J. Kim (October 27, 2023). "Aquaman 2 Bumped Two Days, Robert De Niro's Wise Guys Renamed Alto Knights in Move to November 2024". Variety. Archived from the original on October 27, 2023. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
16. D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 12, 2024). "The Batman 2 From Matt Reeves Heads To Fall 2026; Paul Thomas Anderson-Leonardo DiCaprio Movie Gets Summer 2025 Date". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 12, 2024. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
17. D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 5, 2023). "Aquaman 2 Shifts Release Date Five Days Earlier, Warner Bros Dates The Wise Guys, Minecraft". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
18. Rubin, Rebecca (October 24, 2023). "Movie Theaters Brace for Holiday Season Blues and More Delayed Blockbusters as Strike Drags On". Variety. Retrieved October 25, 2023.

External links

• The Alto Knights at IMDb