It’s strange to think a film that will star Christopher Walken, Val Kilmer and Ray Stevenson is one that will likely to go to DVD before it ever sees theaters, but that is exactly the impression I get from The Irishman, which was just announced by Variety.
The mob drama is based on the life of mobster Danny Greene (Stevenson), who lorded over Cleveland’s criminal underworld during the late 1970s. Walken is onboard to play infamous loan-sharking nightclub owner Shondor Birns, and Kilmer will portray a Cleveland cop who befriends Greene.
The film will be directed by Jonathan Hensleigh, who also wrote the script, which was inspired by Rick Porrello’s book “To Kill the Irishman: The War That Crippled the Mafia.” Hensleigh also wrote and directed the Thomas Jane Punisher in 2004.
As interesting as this one sounds, for some reason I have this sneaking suspicion we will be looking for it on a shiny silver disc rather than the silver screen. Here’s to hoping I am wrong and Hensleigh has tapped into something with the entertainment value of his script for Die Hard: With a Vengeance rather than his script for Nic Cage’s Next.
