Warner Brothers is seemingly on a never-ending quest of cancelations and removals. After being completed, WB shelved Batgirl. The same goes for Coyote vs. Acme, an animated live-action combining Looney Tunes with the real world (even though Ketchup Entertainment is now in talks to release it). The entirety of the available Looney Tunes cartoons was recently removed from Max as well. It’s clear that the world-renowned film studio is changing gears, now prioritizing movies that can potentially surge at the box office.
There are some big hitters coming up to bat. First, there’s F1 starring Brad Pitt and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. Then, One Battle After Another with Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn. Finally, the Oceans’ prequel, which brings in Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as parents to Danny Ocean. Then there’s also The Alto Knights, a mob movie where the timeless Robert De Niro plays two characters. Directed by Barry Levinson (82 years old) and written by Nicholas Pileggi (92 years old), this Warner Brothers film has De Niro stepping into the shoes of both Vito Genovese and Frank Costello.
Where Did ‘The Alto Knights’ Come From?
The Alto Knights
- Release Date
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April 21, 2025
- Runtime
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120 Minutes
- Writers
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Nicholas Pileggi
- Producers
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Irwin Winkler, Jason Sosnoff, Charles Winkler, David Winkler, Mike Drake, Barry Levinson
Cast
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Vito Genovese / Frank Costello
-
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Kathrine Narducci
Anna Genovese
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Cosmo Jarvis
Vincent Gigante
These real-life names from the New York City mafia scene during the early to mid-1900s wound up stepping on each other’s toes too much. The Alto Knights is about Costello trying to stay alive (after Genovese’s initial hit on him goes awry). As of this writing, the movie does not align with WB’s plan of big-name success — $3 million in revenue on opening weekend compared to a $45 million budget. Metacritic has it at a 48 metascore as well. But was this film always part of the new formula, or was it a case of old friends and preferential treatment?
Thanks to some investigating by Puck (a media website that covers the four centers of power in the US) from all the way back in 2022, this big-screen mafioso story allegedly connects with secretive Warner Brothers lore. Evidently, the story of The Alto Knights has been handed around since the mid-70s — that’s what writer Matthew Belloni says (the New York Times source story he refers to is unfortunately hidden behind a paywall). The story gets much more convoluted. Let’s fast-forward a bit to the 2020s.
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He makes another interesting claim involving the CEO of Warner Brothers Discovery, David Zaslav (which has also been surmised from the same source story). Zaslav persuaded the chairperson of WB Entertainment, Michael De Luca, to give the green light to this movie. This coaxing evidently couldn’t have had anything to do with De Niro’s track record or writer Nick Pileggi’s history. Before The Alto Knights started production in 2022, De Niro had many more bad box office outings under his belt than good. Pileggi hadn’t been a writer on anything important since 2012 (he did write Casino and Goodfellas, though). Levinson is in the same boat — at that point, he hadn’t directed a major picture since 2015’s Rock the Kasbah. So, the question remains: how did this movie make it to the finish line, and so many other titles were completely whacked?
David Zaslav Had a Hand in ‘The Alto Knights’ Release
Well, it goes like this. One of the original producers behind The Alto Knights, Irwin Winkler, subtly made mention of the completed script to Zaslav, knowing full well that the WB CEO and Pileggi are great friends (nearby Hampton homes and such). Even with then-WB chairman Toby Emmerich voicing his aversion to the project — he said it was too expensive and wouldn’t justify a theater presence — Zaslav got the last say, and The Alto Knights was pushed through.
Formerly named Wise Guys, the movie’s behind-the-scenes story seems to have a gang-like quality. Even though Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy have taken the place of Emmerich (he resigned in June 2022), the boss’ favorite film still gets made, no matter if it’s got questionable (and elderly) parts moving in the background. The Puck writer even adds in the allegation that Zaslav is described as the “mayor” of the Hamptons. The seaside resort surprisingly has a grand reach into inner Hollywood workings.
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Nicholas Pileggi explains how ‘The Alto Knights’ is a kind of sequel to his other legendary mob movies.
Even though Belloni’s closing statements echo the entertainment world from three years ago (he brings up films like Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt) — the same sentiment rings true today. What is Warner Brothers actually setting itself up to be if “throwbacks” and yesterday’s faces are being pushed in front of fan-favorite franchises? Mafia movies were the guaranteed moneymakers from years and years ago. Today, those features that are a little more fantastical reign supreme and have for a while. Hopefully The Alto Knights turns around and becomes a smash hit for WB, but the dirty little secret behind the movie’s creation has already become a looming shadow. Even in the face of a falling film empire (where money is lost daily), favoritism still wins out. Robert De Niro’s The Alto Knights is now playing in movie theaters nationwide.
