The Robert De Niro-Debra Messing 1950s mob movie filmed in and around Arnold's Bar & Grill Downtown a year ago is scheduled to arrive in theaters Nov. 15.
The film, originally to be released Feb. 2, was pushed back due to the actors' and writers' strikes last year, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Originally called The Wise Guys, it is now known as Alto Knights.
It’s the first original feature film authorized by Warner Bros. Discoveryafter the two companies merged in 2022. The film had its first screen test Jan. 17 in Pasadena, Calif.
Barry Levinson, who directed the Oscar-winning Rain Man in 1988 to put Cincinnati on the filmmaking map, returned to direct the gangster film starring De Niro, also an Oscar-winner. De Niro stars in the dual roles of Italian American crime bosses Vito Genovese and Frank Costello.
Debra Messing (Will & Grace), Kathrine Narducci (who appeared with De Niro in The Irishman), Matt Servitto (The Sopranos) and Cosmo Jarvis (Calm with Horses, Lady Macbeth) also star in the film. Arnold's, which was converted into C.C. Benito's Bakery & Grocery for the movie, closed Jan. 16 through Feb. 21 last year for the filming.
The four Academy Awards for Levinson’s Rain Man in 1989 put Cincinnati on Hollywood's radar and led to the creation of the Cincinnati Film Commission, now called Film Cincinnati. Lost In Yonkers, Tango & Cash, Little Man Tate, A Rage in Harlem, Milk Money and In Too Deep soon followed.
Alto Knights was one of the reasons Moviemaker magazine again named Cincinnati No. 11 on its annual list of "Best Places To Live And Work For Moviemakers" for a third consecutive year. Cincinnati was No. 11 in 2023 after hosting Alto Knights; Regina King's Shirley, about U.S. Rep. Shirley Chisholm running for president in 1972; Austin Butler in The Bikeriders, about a 1960s Chicago motorcycle club; and Turtles All The Way Down, adapted from a 2017 John Green novel.
Shirley premieres on Netflix March 22, as I reported earlier this month. Ben Stiller was filming Nutcrackers in the past two months near Wilmington, a project assisted by Film Cincinnati. All were attracted here by Ohio's tax credits for filmmakers.
Film Cincinnati supported 26 projects last year, says Kristen Schlotman, executive director of the nonprofit film commission. Schlotman, who was promoting Cincinnati at the Sundance Film Festival last week, was one of the main lobbyists who urged Ohio lawmakers to increase the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit from $40 million to $75 million effective July this year.
From the Film Cincinnati release:
“This year, Film Cincinnati commissioned an updated Economic Impact Study with the UC Economics Center resulting in a total economic impact of $258 million dollars and 1,873 jobs between 2019 and 2022. Ohio awarded approximately $53.6 million in Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credits to 25 productions filmed in the Cincinnati Region during this period.
“Between 2019 and 2022, 25 productions – a mix of feature films and television shows – received tax credits from the State of Ohio and were filmed in the Cincinnati region. These productions were evaluated to determine the economic impact and leveraging ability for each fiscal year, respectively.
“For the Cincinnati regional economy, every dollar that went to the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit program was recovered in tax credits awarded to Cincinnati-based productions plus an additional $1.17 on average. Direct new spending in the local economy resulting from productions is on average $6.54 for every dollar in state tax revenue generated in the Cincinnati MSA.
“In 2022, Cincinnati experienced the greatest leveraging of State awarded Motion Picture Tax Credits as Cincinnati contributed an estimated $6.2 million in State sales tax revenues for the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit program, which in turn created $72.8 million in direct spending. This means that for every dollar awarded as an Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit resulted in $11.77 in direct new spending in the Cincinnati Region in 2022 …
“This past year was a roller coaster ride for the film industry including Film Cincinnati,” said Kristen Schlotman, Executive Director of Film Cincinnati. “We successfully lobbied to increase the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit to $75 million, while hosting 26 projects from scouting pre-production, shooting and post-production. We look forward to an exciting 2024.”
“The apex of the year for Film Cincinnati was when Ohio lawmakers voted to nearly double the tax credit from $40 million per year to $75 million beginning in July 2024. This major investment by the state of Ohio in the film industry, known as the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit, provides a competitive advantage among the 34 other states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands who also offer a movie production incentive.
“This endorsement and the increase in the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit by state officials is already paying off with new projects for the coming years,” said Schlotman.
