More than a year after its original release date, the Robert De Niro-Debra Messing gangster film shot by director Barry Levinson in Cincinnati will arrive in theaters nationwide March 21.
The Alto Knights — originally called The Wise Guys when filmed on Main Street Downtown in January 2023 — was first set for release Feb. 2 last year. Then it was pushed back to November due to the impact of the 2022 writers’ strike. Warner Bros. Pictures announced the March 21 date with the trailer this week.
Levinson, who directed the Oscar-winning Rain Man here in 1988 to put Cincinnati on the filmmaking map, returned to direct the mob movie starring De Niro in the dual roles of rival Italian American crime bosses Vito Genovese and Frank Costello in New York City in the late 1950s.
“The film follows two of New York’s most notorious organized crime bosses, Frank Costello (De Niro) and Vito Genovese (De Niro), as they vie for control of the city’s streets. Once the best of friends, petty jealousies and a series of betrayals place them on a deadly collision course that will reshape the Mafia (and America) forever,” says the Warner Bros. Pictures publicity.
Warner Bros. is promoting the bloody film as “from the hitmakers behind Goodfellas, Bugsy and The Irishman. The screenplay was written by Oscar nominee Nicholas Pileggi (Goodfellas) and produced by Oscar-winner Irwin Winkler (Goodfellas, Rocky), Levinson, Jason Sosnoff, Charles Winkler and David Winkler, with Mike Drake executive producing.
The trailer boasts that The Alto Knights was “inspired by the true story of the mob boss who brought the downfall of the American Mafia.”
In addition to Messing (Will & Grace), the film stars Kathrine Narducci (who appeared with De Niro in The Irishman), Matt Servitto (Billions, The Sopranos), Cosmo Jarvis (Shogun, Lady Macbeth), Michael Rispoli (Billions), Anthony J. Gallo (The Irishman), Wallace Langham (Ford v Ferrari, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation), Louis Mustillo (Cooper’s Bar, Mike & Molly), and Robert Uricola (Raging Bull).
Again Cincinnati was used for Manhattan, as it was for Carol, Shirley, Lost In Yonkers, A Rage in Harlem, City of Hope and The Public Eye.
Arnolds Bar & Grill, 210 E. Eighth St., was closed for a month in January and February 2023 as it was converted into the C.C. Benito's Bakery & Grocery.
A storefront next door was the exterior of Ascoli’s Italian Restaurant & Bar. Across East Eighth were fake storefronts for Benny's Market and Vance's Clothing Shop.
Perkinson Legal at Main and Eighth was transformed into Benedetto's Famous Fine Italian Restaurant. (Benedetto was singer Tony Bennet’s real name.) A storefront in the 800 block of Main Street was used for a hardware store.
Several scenes in the trailer were shot in the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza.
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, City of Hope, A Range in Harlem, Milk Money and Airborne were all filmed here in the next four years.
