Barry Levinson's The Alto Knights: Release date, trailer, and more

Modified Jan 15, 2025 12:21 GMT

Barry Levinson's The Alto Knights details explored (Image via Warner Bros. Pictures)

The Alto Knights is a historical crime drama movie, directed by Barry Levinson, which is based on the lives of two infamous Italian crime mafia bosses named Frank Costello, and Vito Genovese. The movie is written by popular screenplay writer Nicholas Pileggi, who also co-wrote Goodfellas.

The story of The Alto Knights is based on the two rivalries between two mafia bosses in the underworld, during the 1950s. Both Frank Costello and Vito Genovese had been childhood friends, who grew up to become competitors, in their fields.

The Alto Knights is a production of Winkler Films, with principal cinematography done by Dante Spinotti. The movie is set to make its release on March 21, 2025, and will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Warner Bros. Pictures released the official trailer of The Alto Knights

On January 14, 2025, Warner Bros. Pictures released the official trailer of The Alto Knights, with the principal tagline,

"The most dangerous enemy is an old friend."

Academy Award Winner Robert De Niro is set to play the dual roles of mafia bosses Frank Costello, and Vito Genovese. De Niro has a history of appearing in mafia films beginning from Martin Scorsese's 1973 movie Mean Streets, to Francis Ford Coppola's iconic 1974 sequel The Godfather Part II.

De Niro also went on to appear in Scorsese's 1990 crime mafia film Goodfellas. De Niro went on to be cast alongside Al Pacino in Scorsese's 2019 Netflix crime drama titled The Irishman. As per the film's premise, the story will follow two of New York's most notorious mafia bosses Vito Genovese and Frank Costello.

Historically, Vito Genovese was an Italian-born, member of the American Mafia, who along with his childhood friend Lucky Luciano, went on to take part in the Castellammarese War. He went on to become the leading member of Luciano's crime family, which later became the Genovese crime family.

Frank Costello was a member of the Luciano crime family, who after moving to the United States, also joined the infamous mobster Lucky Luciano. After leading the Luciano crime family from the 1930s to the 1950s, he eventually returned from the business in 1957. Both Vito and Frank grew up as childhood friends, carrying out crimes, and being part of the New York City Gangs.

However, as they grew up to create their separate gangs and businesses, jealousy and a series of betrayals, led them to become stern enemies. It was during the early 1957 when Vito Genovese ordered the assassination of Frank Costello. He hired the infamous mobster Vincent Gigante, who shot Costello on May 2, 1957.

The Alto Knights narrate the complete story of Frank Costello and Lucy Luciano, from their journey as childhood best friends to killers. The movie is produced by Irwin Winkler, Jason Sosonoff, Barry Levinson, David Winkler, and Charles Winkler.

Who is in the cast of The Alto Knights?

As of now, the list of cast set to appear in The Alto Knights are as follows:

Robert De Niro (Duel Roles) as Vito Genovese and Frank Costello
Debra Messing as Bobbie Costello
Cosmo Jarvis as Vincent Gigante
Katherine Narducci as Anna Genovese
Matt Servitto as George Wolf
Carrie Lazar as L.T. Trooper
Lousi Mustillo as Joe Bonanno
Belmont Cameli as Frankie Boy
Robert Arce as Keith Norval
Joseph Moreland as Juror
Bob Glouberman as Victor Riesel
Ed Amatrudo as Rudolph Halley
Bryant Carroll as Local Reporter
James Ciccone Carlo Gambino
Gary Chinn as Doorman
Jean Zarzour as Elsa Anastasia

Barry Levinson and De Niro previously collaborated in Sleeper, The Wizard of Lies, Wag and the Dog, and What Just Happened. Nicholas Pileggi, the co-writer of Goodfellas, has written the screenplay for Alto Knights.

Edited by Bharath S