Robert De Niro plays two warring gangsters fighting to rule the streets of New York City in Barry Levinson’s The Alto Knights trailer.

Robert De Niro pulls double duty for his latest crime drama in the trailer for The Alto Knights, a new film from director Barry Levinson (Rain Man, Bugsy, Sleepers) focusing on the story of the real-life gangsters Vito Genovese (De Niro) and Frank Costello (De Niro).

Goodfellas screenwriter and Oscar nominee Nicholas Pileggi wrote the script for The Alto Knights, which stars Robert De Niro as Vito Genovese and Frank Costello, two Italian Americans who head two New York-based crime families in the mid-20th century. Reports about their reign show that in 1957, Genovese tried to assassinate Costello, resulting in Costello exiting the mob to recover from his injuries and distance himself from “the life.”

In the Alto Knights trailer, Vito Genovese does not approve of how Frank Costello runs his family. Genovese says Costello is fooling himself if he thinks he can present himself as an upstanding citizen while running a shadowy organization behind closed doors. Costello’s approach to crime is bad for business, and Genovese wants Costello out of the picture. “You can’t have it both ways. You’re either in or you’re out,” Genovese warns Costello in the trailer. After Costello survives the attempted assassination, he vows to bring the mob down, one disloyal gangster at a time.

Debra Messing (Will & Grace, Hollywood Ending), Cosmo Jarvis (Lady Macbeth, Raised by Wolves), and Kathrine Narducci (Euphoria, Godfather of Harlem) co-star in The Alto Knights, with Irwin Winkler producing alongside Barry Levinson, Jason Sosnoff, Charles Winkler, and David Winkler. Mike Drake executive produces.

Are you familiar with the story of Vito Genovese and Frank Costello? What do you think about De Niro playing both gangsters for Levinson’s latest film? The Alto Knights trailer gives Goodfellas vibes, though, after a while, many of these mobster movies start looking the same. Thankfully, The Alto Knights includes a fantastic cast, and the story’s real-life elements make this tale of crime and backstabbing more interesting than most. To think these two gangsters once went to war on the streets of New York is frightening, and I must admit I’m interested to see how it all plays out.

The Alto Knights is coming soon to theaters.

About the Author

Born and raised in New York, then immigrated to Canada, Steve Seigh has been a JoBlo.com editor, columnist, and critic since 2012. He started with Ink & Pixel, a column celebrating the magic and evolution of animation, before launching the companion YouTube series Animation Movies Revisited. He’s also the host of the Talking Comics Podcast, a personality-driven audio show focusing on comic books, film, music, and more. You’ll rarely catch him without headphones on his head and pancakes on his breath.