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Post by caitlen on May 18, 2009 1:35:49 GMT -5
D'Onofrio, Sorvino join cast of Irishman for Lightning 18 May, 2009 | By Jeremy Kay Vincent D’Onofrio, Paul Sorvino and Vinnie Jones have joined Ray Stevenson, Christopher Walken and Val Kilmer in Code Entertainment’s The Irishman. Lightning Entertainment is pre-selling here in Cannes. Shooting is set to begin next week in Detroit on the story of Boston Irish gangster Danny Greene’s fearsome battle with the US mafia. Jonathan Dana and ICM are representing North American rights. Jonathan Hensleigh is directing from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jeremy Walters, inspired by Rick Porrello’s To Kill The Irishman: The War That Crippled The Mafia. And tells the story based on the life of mobster Danny Greene (Stevenson), who lorded over Cleveland’s criminal underworld during the late 1970s. Walken is onboard to play infamous loan-sharking nightclub owner Shondor Birns, and Kilmer will portray a Cleveland cop who befriends Greene Steve Schirripa, Fionnula Flanagan, Laura Ramsey, Linda Cardellini, Bob Gunton and Tony Lo Bianco have also joined the cast. Code Entertainment’s Al Corley, Bart Rosenblatt, and Eugene Musso are producing with Dundee Entertainment’s Tommy Reid and Tara Reid, who brought the property to Code. Dana, Peter Miller, and Porrello are executive producers. Link to article! D'Onofrio joins cast of Irishman for Lightning
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Post by DonnaJo on May 18, 2009 9:34:36 GMT -5
Thanks Caitlen. Great news. ;D
No mention of VDO's role, but may we assume that he is playing one of the mafioso?
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Post by idget on May 18, 2009 10:51:40 GMT -5
Mr. D'Onofrio sure seems to be taking on a lot of mob roles recently. He either must really feel strongly about the role or need the money because I can't imagine anyone wanting to spend their summer in Detroit.
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Post by tjara on May 18, 2009 11:07:14 GMT -5
Wanna bet he gets killed? ;D
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Post by Patcat on May 18, 2009 11:15:04 GMT -5
Considering Mr. D'Onofrio's film career, Tjara, that's a sucker bet.(g)
Patcat
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ZackNicholsgirl
Detective
I love both doggies and kitties. I could just scrunch up their cute little faces! - Jeff Goldblum
Posts: 423
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Post by ZackNicholsgirl on May 18, 2009 14:05:40 GMT -5
wow, that sounds Interesting! I'll keep my eyes on Open on that one
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vdofan1
Silver Shield Investigator
Made ya look....
Posts: 178
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Post by vdofan1 on May 18, 2009 16:35:00 GMT -5
I'm sure the prospect of working with the cast and hopefully the script were the draw... I agree with idget, it can't be the prospect of the summer in Detroit (having never been there, maybe I'm wrong... but somehow I don't think so.) But to work again with Paul Sorvino (I think it's a given VDO and Sorvino will be the 'US' mob guys) and possibly Val Kilmer would be a selling point. And to work with Christopher Walken would be very interesting - hope VDO and Walken have scenes together, though that seems unlikely....
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Ladyheather
Detective
An acquired taste.....
Posts: 441
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Post by Ladyheather on May 18, 2009 18:52:32 GMT -5
Sounds like a great combo of actors. Hopefully we will read more about it soon.
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Post by outerbankschick on May 18, 2009 19:24:01 GMT -5
Hopefully we'll get to see it!
:still grumbling about having to wait for The Narrows to hit DVD:
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Post by caitlen on May 19, 2009 3:39:27 GMT -5
Mr. D'Onofrio sure seems to be taking on a lot of mob roles recently. He either must really feel strongly about the role or need the money because I can't imagine anyone wanting to spend their summer in Detroit. I doubt he would need the money, Vincent has alway`s chosen roles because of the story, director and cast. If he needed $$$ he would be doing films non stop, these are over a period of time per sey. As well as im sure Vincent would want to work with Val and Paul again, having worked with them before.
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Post by caitlen on May 19, 2009 3:41:50 GMT -5
A little more D’Onofrio, Sorvino make it Italians vs. ‘The Irishman’By Craig Kennedy May 17th, 2009; Earlier this month it was announced that Ray Stevenson (HBO’s Rome), Christopher Walken and Val Kilmer would star in The Irishman, a true crime drama about Danny Greene (Stevenson), an Irish mobster stirring up trouble with the Italian mafia in 1970s Cleveland. Walken will play Shondor Birns, Cleveland loan shark and nightclub operator while Kilmer will play a police detective. Now only days before the film is scheduled to begin shooting in Detroit, Screen Daily reports that Vincent D’Onofrio (Full Metal Jacket), Paul Sorvino (GoodFellas), Vinnie Jones (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), Linda Cardellini (Scooby-Doo, TV’s Freaks and Geeks) and 1970s TV staple Tony Lo Bianco (The Seven-Ups) are joining the cast. It’s a great line-up and an interesting milieu, though the fact it’s being directed and co-written by Jonathan Hensleigh (writer/director of Punisher and writer of Die Hard with a Vengeance and Armageddon) doesn’t do much to inspire further confidence. Still, Walken is always a blast, Stevens was great on Rome and it’ll be nice to see D’Onofrio unchained from Law and Order for a while.Source: Screen Daily livingincinema.com/2009/05/17/donofrio-sorvino-make-it-italians-vs-the-irishman/
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Post by Patcat on May 19, 2009 8:06:46 GMT -5
THE PUNISHER was not a good movie. I'll go for the obvious and say it punished the audience.
Patcat
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Post by caitlen on Jun 18, 2009 6:08:41 GMT -5
Thursday, June 18, 2009 River Rouge docks provide the rust and grime for a film about the Irish mob Ursula Watson / The Detroit News The Nicholson Terminal & Dock Co. in River Rouge has just the sort of gritty look that appealed to producers of the film "The Irishman." Which is why on Tuesday, it was serving as the backdrop for the opening scene of the movie, which is based on the life of the late Cleveland mobster Danny Greene, who came to power in the 1970s. Ray Stevenson, who stars as Greene, and other actors and extras were hard at work trying to capture the hardscrabble atmosphere of working on the docks. And, unlike some Hollywood flicks, the terminal came with its own props -- rusted piles of scrap metal and heat-defying mud puddles. "We love filming here. Detroit is very authentic," says Bart Rosenblatt, one of the film's producers, pointing in awe at two rusted, faded black cranes from the 1970s that towered over the set. In the scene, dock workers are unloading bags of grain from a cargo ship that will be computer-generated, hence the large green screens billowing in the breeze. Rosenblatt says temperatures back then on the docks could hit 120 degrees, and those who succumbed to the heat were thrown into a tub of ice. Don Taylor, an employee at Nicholson Terminal & Dock, was tapped to be an extra in the scene. Taylor and the other extras were dressed in dirt-covered overalls. Makeup gave their faces a sweaty, dirty appearance, with a grain-like substance clinging to their skin. "My wife has been telling everybody," says Taylor, 50, of being in the film. Taylor, a resident of River Rouge, has been a locomotive engineer at the company for 31 years. Since filming began May 19 in Detroit, "The Irishman" has shot scenes in Corktown, at the Roma Cafe in Eastern Market, in the Cass Corridor and at the remnants of old Tiger Stadium. To date, more than 100 Michiganians have been hired for film crew positions and 50 people have been used as extras. In addition to Stevenson, "The Irishman" also stars Val Kilmer, Christopher Walken, Vincent D'Onofrio and Paul Sorvino. In Tuesday's scene, Greene speaks out against the harsh working conditions and later becomes president of the International Longshoreman's Association, but his tenure wasn't without controversy. "It is a real piece of Americana," says Rosenblatt, "when the unions were still really in power. Now that has shifted, but it is a great story." Greene eventually became an enforcer and then started a war with the Mafia, which resulted in 30 bombings one summer that earned Cleveland the moniker Bomb City, U.S.A, says Rosenblatt. "Danny was the reason for the demise of the Italian Mafia in Cleveland and in the Great Lakes area," says Al Corley, another of the film's producers and a former actor. In the 1980s, Corley played the first Steven Carrington for two years on the hit ABC series, "Dynasty." "He was an orphan, a boxer, was in the military, a sharpshooter," Corley says of Greene. "Danny was a rough guy in a rough time." Through it all Greene gained the reputation for being virtually invincible, surviving several attempts on his life by the Mafia. For producer Tommy Reid, getting Greene's story on film took 12 years. Reid, a native of New Jersey, says he learned about Greene while a student at Ohio State University. Reid went on to buy the options to the book by Rick Porrello titled "To Kill the Irishman: The War That Crippled the Mafia," on which the film is based. "Friends from Cleveland would talk about Greene," Reid says. "In Cleveland, everybody has a connection with Greene. It is like six degrees of separation." Filming of "The Irishman" wraps up on June 27. www.detnews.com/article/20090618/ENT02/906180331/River-Rouge-docks-provide-the-rust-and-grime-for-a-film-about-the-Irish-mob
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Post by caitlen on Jun 25, 2009 21:48:05 GMT -5
Robert Davi Wed., Jun. 24, 2009, By JUSTIN KROLL Robert Davi ("The Goonies") has joined the cast of mobster pic "The Irishman," which has already begun filming. Val Kilmer, Christopher Walken, Vincent D'Onofrio and Ray Stevenson star in the pic, which Jonathan Hensleigh is helming. The film is based on the life of Danny Greene, an Irish thug working for mobsters in Cleveland during the 1970s. www.variety.com/article/VR1118005332.html?categoryId=28&cs=1
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Post by caitlen on Jun 30, 2009 2:42:32 GMT -5
The Irishman News June 29, 2009 The Irishman releases exclusive footage to MovieSet MovieSet.com, the pioneering movie site that takes fans behind the scenes of major motion pictures while still in production, has just released the first-ever behind-the-scenes footage and stills from the set of The Irishman starring Ray Stevenson, Vincent D'Onofrio, Val Kilmer and Christopher Walken. Code Entertainment's production of The Irishman chronicles the rise and fall of infamous Cleveland gangster Danny Greene (Ray Stevenson), who engaged in a power struggle with the Italian mob in the 1970s. The movie is currently being shot entirely in and around Detroit, MI. Production continues through mid-summer. The film is slated to be released in 2010. "We are thrilled to be able to offer fans behind-the-scenes access on the sets of major motion pictures like 'The Irishman,'" states MovieSet President and CEO, Colleen Nystedt. "This is a terrific partnership and I couldn't be happier at the way the production has embraced the technology to help build their core audience during production." MovieSet.com partnered with The Irishman to build awareness of this gripping crime drama directed by Jonathan Hensleigh (The Punisher). While on set, the unit publicist is working closely with production to capture compelling behind the scenes footage daily, including interviews with key cast members, production staff and special effects crew. "MovieSet.com is a smart, new marketing tool for filmmakers," says Executive Producer Jonathan Dana. "We at 'The Irishman' are happy to be a part of this wonderful new technology." Founded in 1994, Code Entertainment has produced 12 feature films, working with both emerging and established talent, including Academy Award-winning actors, directors, composers and cinematographers. The company operates with a revolving equity fund and produces and finances two to three films per year. Code's partners are Bart Rosenblatt, Al Corley, Eugene Musso, Rick Berg, and Rich Freeman. Jonathan Dana serves as marketing and sales representative for the company's feature films. MovieSet.com is a leading movie web site providing fans with daily movie news while offering producers proprietary turnkey technology to create a dynamic online presence for their movies while in production. MovieSet.com allows fans to track a movie's progress from green light to release. www.movieset.com/
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