Jessica Chastain, Brendan Fraser, and Bryan Cranston have joined Al Pacino in the mystery thriller "Assassination".
The movie will be directed by Barry Levinson from a script by David Mamet, Levinson, and Sam Bromell.
The pic was first reported about the movie out of Cannes, with two-time Oscar nominee and Pulitzer Prize winner Mamet originally set to direct the movie.
"Assassination" retells the fateful murder of John F. Kennedy from the mob’s perspective and whose death was a hit ordered by Chicago mob kingpin Sam Giancana as payback for JFK’s attempt to undermine the mob after they helped get him elected (that thread formed a big part of Oliver Stone’s JFK).
The movie offers up a new take on the JFK conspiracy, centering around Kilgallen (Chastain), one of the most famous voices in media at the time. When she suspects that Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone, she uses her fame and influence to find President John F. Kennedy’s real killer. Part murder mystery, part film noir, Kilgallen’s journey will put her up against the CIA, mafia bosses and the FBI, all who would love nothing more than to make her and this story disappear.
“Dorothy Kilgallen was the first female crime reporter in America. She was the only woman to ever cover the JFK case. The only reporter to speak with Jack Ruby. With back-channel sources to the Warren Commission, she started putting pieces together that no one else did,” Levinson said. “She died under very suspicious circumstances, but it was never investigated.”
BAFTA winner Shia LaBeouf and Oscar winner Al Pacino remain attached to the movie, the latter playing Tony Accardo, a senior mob boss.
The pic is being produced by Corey Large (It Follows), Jason Sosnoff (Wise Guys) and Giancana’s grandnephew Nicholas Celozzi (The Class). Large is also financing "Assassination".
Executive producers are John Burnham, Bernie Gewissler, Pia Patatian, and Jordan Nott. Production is set to begin in early 2025 in Boston.
Global sales executive Pia Patatian, formerly of Arclight, is handling worldwide rights through her new company Concord Studios. Patatian will launch the project at the American Film Market.
Levinson and Mamet’s previous collaborations were the Oscar-nominated 1997 comedy "Wag the Dog", which the former directed and the latter co-wrote, as well as the 2013 HBO movie "Phil Spector", which Mamet wrote and directed and Levinson EP’ed.
Levinson previously directed Pacino in three movies: "Paterno", "You Don’t Know Jack", and "The Humbling".
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