Posted May 18, 200717 yr CANNES -- Robert De Niro and Al Pacino are teaming to play New York police investigators hunting a serial killer in Jon Avnet's $60 million thriller "Righteous Kill" for Avi Lerner's Millennium Films and Emmett/Furla Films. The independently financed feature written by Russell Gewirtz ("Inside Man," the upcoming "Labyrinth") unites the longtime friends on screen for some 90% of the film -- unlike their one shared scene in Michael Mann's "Heat" and no shared scenes in Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather Part II." "You see those two icons onscreen together for virtually the whole film," Lerner said at his Festival de Cannes offices, "(something) never seen before in the history of cinema. It's one of the hardest deals we've ever done to put these two actors together." Lerner and Randall Emmett closed negotiations on the CAA-packaged project late Thursday morning during the festival. Advertisement Emmett said the actors had long been seeking a project on which to work together and that he acted as a catalyst to get the duo together. Lerner talked to producer Art Linson and De Niro, now filming the Warner Bros. Hollywood comedy "What Just Happened?" to help move the new project along. "Kill" begins a two-month shoot in Connecticut and New York on Aug. 6, taking advantage of each state's tax incentive programs. Lerner said "Kill" is the biggest budget production he's ever done without co-financing from a major studio. "If this were a studio film, it would cost $120 million," he said. "We believe the independent film world (makes films) more efficiently, more cost effectively and with more heart. A studio would read it and set up a committee about the script, the director ... a committee about the committee." The film reunites Pacino, Avnet and the two production companies, all of whom collaborated recently on the thriller "88 Minutes." Although Lerner recently became co-CEO of indie production/distribution company First Look Studios with Henry Winterstern, he expects the film to be sold and distributed by a major studio before production begins. The producers of "Kill" are Lerner, Emmett, Avnet, Boaz Davidson, George Furla and Alexandra Milchan. Danny Dimbort and Trevor Short will serve as exec producers. De Niro is repped by CAA and the Firm. Pacino, Avnet and Gewirtz are repped by CAA. Lonnie Ramati negotiated the deal for Millennium Films. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/conten...36a8510ffb59eb1 Freakin awesome
May 31, 200717 yr Author http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1034331/ Added to IMDB with the plot outline of: Two cops try to catch a serial killer, while resolving issues between them. Just going to sit back and enjoy watching DeNiro and Pacino work together.. although i havent read many good things about the director. Would be hard to mess this one up though
July 12, 200717 yr Author 50 Cent joins Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in Righteous Kill Get Rich or Die Tryin’ but now it seems the rapper has turned his hand to making a Righteous Kill. The rapper/actor is ready to join the legendary Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in the thriller directed by Jon Avnet. The dynamic duo that is Pacino and De Niro last worked together on Heat, but are set to play two cops when filming for Righteous Kill in September. According to The Hollywood Reporter, 50 Cent “is in final negotiations to co-star as a drug dealer who helps the detectives with their investigation.� So 50 Cent isn’t going to wow us with his dynamic acting skills but I’m sure we’ll see a side of Fiddy that we’ve not seen before. You have to be kidding me.
July 13, 200717 yr Hey, you never know, he might do a great job. I remember a Law and Order with Ludacris as a guest star and he did an outstanding job.
July 13, 200717 yr Hey, you never know, he might do a great job. I remember a Law and Order with Ludacris as a guest star and he did an outstanding job. Ludacris is a pretty good character actor. He holds his own on SNL and in the movies I've seen him in. I can't say the same for 50 Cent.
July 13, 200717 yr Ludacris was good in Hustle & Flow too. Most rap stars have been okay in the right roles that I've seen. I mean, he's playing a drug dealer not a congressman or anything. Busta Rhymes was well casted in Narc, Ice Cube was great in Boyz n the Hood, RZA was decent in Derailed, etc. A lot of rappers have had pretty good crossover work.
July 14, 200717 yr Ludacris was good in Hustle & Flow too. Most rap stars have been okay in the right roles that I've seen. I mean, he's playing a drug dealer not a congressman or anything. Busta Rhymes was well casted in Narc, Ice Cube was great in Boyz n the Hood, RZA was decent in Derailed, etc. A lot of rappers have had pretty good crossover work. The difference, here, is that 50 cent sucks.
August 20, 200717 yr Author On the whole Scorecesse/DeNiro front, just noticed that Scorcesse is casted in this movie.
August 20, 200717 yr Would have preferred someone like Mos Def in that role, but like JJ said rappers do have a solid reputation on screen in the right place. Ice-T does a great job on SVU, as have Ludacris and Mos Def among others when not in leading roles.
August 20, 200717 yr Mos Def has been in a couple of movies I really liked. He was great as Ford Prefect in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and was also solid in the remake of the Italian Job.
August 20, 200717 yr It's not fantastic, but definitely worth a rental. I enjoyed it for what it was. Mos really shined and he and Bruce had good chemistry.
August 20, 200717 yr I actually meant that in addition. He's extremely talented. Musically, acting (drama and comedy), and he is a real chill guy in his personal life. I'm a big fan.
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