the winter of frankie machine Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Any fan of modern crime fiction has got to be a little jazzed about this news: The long-in-development adaptation of Don Winslow's crime novel The Winter of Frankie Machine now has a star and a director -- and it's the same team who gave us the modern crime classic Heat. Variety reports that Paramount's production, which has been on their development slate since the studio bought the rights to Winslow's novel pre-publication back in 2005, is moving forward with Michael Mann on-board to direct the long-attached Robert De Niro in the lead role. Winslow may be the best crime writer you've never heard of; his California Fire and Life is certainly my pick for one of the best page-turning thrillers of the past 20 years, and his decades-spanning, border-crossing drug epic The Power of the Dog is a knockout as well. The Winter of Frankie Machine will be shooting from a script adaptation by Brian Kopplman and David Levien (Rounders, Oceans 13), following the reluctant re-criminalization of Frank Machianno -- veteran, small businessman, surfer and ex-killer -- as all his old allegiances and alliances draw very close around him.

In a lot of ways, Winslow's book is about how easily civilized, upstanding San Diegan Frank Machianno goes back to being Frankie Machine, descending Dante-style into Hell to try and get out; it's a juicy part for De Niro, one similar to some of his more iconic roles and yet very different; Winslow's book makes no bones about the age of its protagonist, and Frank's sense of honor will make for ripe stuff in the hands of the men who created the principled-yet-predatory jewel thief Neil McCauley in Heat. With Mann on board as the director, this film just moved up several notches on my radar; now, if we can just get Peter Berg to return to that film version of California Fire and Life he was supposedly attached to, it'd be a very good time to be a fan of California crime on the big screen. ...

Though the weather is slowly becoming colder here on the East Coast, writers Brian Koppelman and David Levien are nothing but hot, having just signed a low seven-figure deal to adapt Don Winslow's novel, The Winter of Frankie Machine. Attached to star in yet another mob-related film, Robert De Niro will play the lead role, as well as produce the pic alongside partner Jane Rosenthal through their Tribeca Films shingle.

The writing duo, who are currently working on Ocean's Thirteen and previously shelled out the scripts for Rounders, Knockaround Guys and Walking Tall, are in charge of a story that revolves around a mob hitman who has since retired from "the business" in exchange for a quiet life as the owner of a bait shop. However, he finds himself back in action when the son of a mob boss asks for his help on a job, though it doesn't take long for him to discover the entire thing is nothing but a set up, as he is the intended target for a hit.

I don't know about you, but I'm really losing interest in mob flicks. While I thoroughly enjoyed The Departed (which I just saw last night), I feel Hollywood should take its mob train and let it collect dust in a yard for awhile. Anyone else feel that way?