It’s really hard not to be excited for Ruben Fleischer’s next film, Gangster Squad. Based solely on the cast and subject matter it sounds like something Michael Mann would be bringing us instead of the director of Zombieland and the upcoming crime-comedy 30 Minutes or Less, but that actually just adds to the excitement. What if Fleisher is able to turn Los Angeles homicide detective-turned-screenwriter Will Beall’s script based on Paul Lieberman seven-part “Tales From the Gangster Squad” series into something we would associate with the likes of Mann’s work? Seriously, how exciting does that sound?
The seven-part LA Times series centers on the Los Angeles Police Dept.’s struggle with increasing crime and corruption in the 1940s, when the department formed the Gangster Squad to keep East Coast organized crime figures from planting roots. At the center of it all is Mickey Cohen, a former boxer who became an associate of Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel. While charismatic, he was also considered an ultra-violent sociopath.
Today we learned Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker, The Adjustment Bureau) has joined previously cast Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling and Josh Brolin in the picture. Mackie will portray former LAPD lieutenant Rocky Washington who is eventually recruited by Sgt. Jerry Wooters (Gosling), a good cop who loves the bachelor life, and John O’Mara (Brolin), one of the few cops not on the payroll of gangster Mickey Cohen, to join their titular police unit in an effort to bring down Cohen who will be played by Sean Penn.
Michael Pena also recently joined the cast as an officer with a Mexican heritage who is eager to prove himself to the squad. Pena was recently seen in Battle: Los Angeles and The Lincoln Lawyer and also has a part in Fleischer’s 30 Minutes or Less due out on August 12 from Columbia Pictures.
As for Mackie, he’ll next be seen in Real Steel opposite Hugh Jackman on October 7 and he’s also got roles in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Man on a Ledge coming up. He’s also rumored to be up for a role opposite Brad Pitt in Marc Forster’s zombie epic World War Z, which is expected to begin filming shortly, just ahead of Gangster Squad, which is expected to begin filming in September with an eye on a 2013 release from Warner Bros.
I have not yet read Lieberman’s seven-part series the film is based on, but I do have it saved on my iPad and if you’re interested in giving it a look just click here.
