If you had any doubt that period gangster movie starring Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Anthony Mackie, Michael Peña, Giovanni Ribisi, Emma Stone and Nick Nolte was awards season material, well Warner Bros. has made it official, giving the film a plum October 19, 2012 release date. We’re sure organizers at TIFF, Telluride and Venice are already working the phones.
The film is based on a series of articles in the L.A. Times by Paul Lieberman that was picked up soon after its publication in 2008 by Warner Bros. who, in turn, hired former L.A. cop-turned-novelist Will Beall to adapt. The major focus of Lieberman’s article was a specialized L.A.P.D. unit set up in the ‘40s to fight the growing influence of the East Coast Mafia, namely that from infamous gangster Mickey Cohen, a mogul who started as muscle for Al Capone in Chicago. Penn will play Cohen with Gosling and Brolin as the two cops determined to bring him down. And as the ensemble around them suggests — it also includes Holt McCallany, Robert Patrick, Frank Grillo, Sullivan Stapleton and Mirielle Enos — this will be one sprawling tale.
The film is currently in front of cameras with “Zombieland” and “30 Minutes Or Less” director Ruben Fleischer stepping up his filmography in a major way. And yes, the above is a set photo from the shoot and you can check out more right here. [BoxOfficeMojo]
