Robert De Niro acts opposite himself in new ‘The Alto Knights’ trailer
Warner Bros. Pictures
There’s double the Robert De Niro in the new trailer for The Alto Knights.
The Oscar winner plays two roles — Vito Genovese and Frank Costello — in the upcoming Warner Bros. Pictures film. It arrives in theaters on March 21.
Helmed by Oscar-winning director Barry Levinson, the film follows two of New York City’s most notorious organized crime bosses “as they vie for control of the city’s streets. Once the best of friends, petty jealousies and a series of betrayals place them on a deadly collision course that will reshape the Mafia (and America) forever,” according to the film’s official logline.
“Where do I start?” De Niro’s Frank Costello asks in the trailer. “You’re going down a very dangerous road.”
“And we ain’t been down dangerous roads before? That’s the risk you take. Me, I take that risk,” the Vito Genovese De Niro responds.
The film was inspired by the true story of the mob boss who brought about the downfall of the American mafia, according to the trailer. It was written by Goodfellas screenwriter and Oscar nominee Nicholas Pileggi, and produced by Oscar winner IrwinWinkler, who also produced Rocky and Goodfellas.
Debra Messing, Cosmo Jarvis, Katherine Narducci, Michael Rispoli, Michael Adler, Ed Amatrudo, Joe Bacino, Anthony J.Gallo, Wallace Langham, Louis Mustillo, Frank Piccirillo, Matt Serviet and Robert Uricola also star.
Sean Baker accepts the best original screenplay award for “Anora” — Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Anora, a film about a sex worker’s marriage to the son of a Russian oligarch, picked up the Oscar for best original screenplay for screenwriter Sean Baker Sunday night, marking his first-ever Oscar win.
“I want to thank the sex worker community. They have shared their stories. They have shared their life experiences with me over the years,” he said in accepting the award. “My deepest respect. I share this with you.”
Meanwhile, Conclave screenwriter Peter Straughan nabbed the Oscar for best adapted screenplay, marking his first Oscar win from two nominations. He was previously nominated for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy in 2011.
Focus Features is teaming up again with Robert Eggers. The studio is producing and financing the Nosferatu director’s next film, Werwulf, which he co-wrote, Deadline reports. It will release on Christmas Day 2026. Nosferatu became Focus Features’ second-highest-grossing movie in the U.S. after it made $90.5 million in theaters after it was released in December 2024 …
Jon Bernthal is the latest actor to join Christopher Nolan‘s upcoming adaptation of The Odyssey. Deadline first reported that Bernthal will join the star-studded cast that already includes Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o and Charlize Theron. The movie is expected to begin filming in February and is slated for a 2026 release …
Netflix is sticking with Love is Blind. The streamer has renewed the reality dating series through season 10, it announced Wednesday. Season 8 of the series will drop on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, while two more seasons of the show are to follow. Netflix released a video celebrating five years of Love is Blind on Wednesday. The show first debuted back in February 2020. Nick and Vanessa Lachey return to host season 8, which is set in Minnesota …
Justin Baldoni has filed a lawsuit against The New York Times after it published an article featuring allegations from his It Ends With Us co-star, Blake Lively.
Baldoni, who directed and starred in the blockbuster film with Lively, filed a suit on Tuesday for libel and false light invasion of privacy. The complaint claimed that The Times relied on “cherry-picked” and altered communications, with details “stripped of necessary context and deliberately spliced” to “mislead.”
The story, “We Can Bury Anyone: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine,” was written by reporters Megan Twohey, Mike McIntire and Julie Tate. It reported on Lively’s allegations of sexual misconduct by Baldoni and an alleged campaign to “tarnish” Lively’s reputation and image. The article also included alleged text messages and email exchanges between Baldoni’s publicists Jennifer Abel and Melissa Nathan; however, Baldoni’s lawsuit alleges that the exchanges in The Times’ story were stripped of “critical context.”
“The Article’s central thesis, encapsulated in a defamatory headline designed to immediately mislead the reader, is that Plaintiffs orchestrated a retaliatory public relations campaign against Lively for speaking out about sexual harassment — a premise that is categorically false and easily disproven,” the lawsuit stated.
It continued, “If the Times truly reviewed the thousands of private communications it claimed to have obtained, its reporters would have seen incontrovertible evidence that it was Lively, not Plaintiffs, who engaged in a calculated smear campaign.”
Baldoni, who is seeking $250 million in damages, also lists nine other co-plaintiffs, including Wayfarer Studios LLC, which produced It Ends With Us, and his publicists, Abel and Nathan.
Brian Freedman, an attorney for Baldoni, said in a statement to Good Morning America that The Times “cowered to the wants and whims of two powerful ‘untouchable’ Hollywood elites, disregarding journalistic practices and ethics once befitting of the revered publication by using doctored and manipulated texts and intentionally omitting texts which dispute their chosen PR narrative.”
“In doing so, they pre-determined the outcome of their story, and aided and abetted their own devastating PR smear campaign designed to revitalize Lively’s self-induced floundering public image and counter the organic groundswell of criticism amongst the online public,” Freedman continued. “The irony is rich.”
Freedman added, “Make no mistake however, as we all unite to take down The NY Times by no longer allowing them to deceive the public, we will continue this campaign of authenticity by also suing those individuals who have abused their power to try and destroy the lives of my clients.”
“While their side embraces partial truths, we embrace the full truth – and have all of the communications to back it,” the statement said. “The public will decide for themselves as they did when this first began.”
A New York Times spokesperson told Good Morning America that they “plan to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.”
“The role of an independent news organization is to follow the facts where they lead. Our story was meticulously and responsibly reported,” The Times’ response continued. “It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails that we quote accurately and at length in the article.”
“To date, Wayfarer Studios, Mr. Baldoni, the other subjects of the article and their representatives have not pointed to a single error,” the spokesperson claimed. “We published their full statement in response to the allegations in the article as well.”
Good Morning America has reached out to Lively’s reps for comment about Baldoni’s lawsuit against The New York Times.
Lively filed a lawsuit in New York against Baldoni and other defendants for sexual harassment on Tuesday. She’s also suing Wayfarer Studios for “failure to investigate, prevent and/or remedy harassment,” as well as others including Nathan and Abel.
Lively’s lawsuit follows a complaint she filed a week ago with the California Civil Rights Department accusing Baldoni and others of waging a smear campaign against her and accusing the actor of sexual misconduct. Baldoni has denied all allegations via his lawyer.
In her suit, which reiterates details she previously presented in her complaint, it refers to a meeting that was allegedly held on Jan. 4, 2024, prior to resuming filming on It Ends With Us after the guild strikes. It alleges that the meeting was attended by Baldoni and key stakeholders of the film, including Wayfarer CEO Jamey Heath, and Lively, who addressed what she called the “repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behavior” by Baldoni and Heath.
According to the lawsuit, Lively said she laid out specific demands at the meeting to ensure a safe and professional working environment, including “no more showing nude videos or images of women to Blake” and “no more discussions about sexual conquests in front of Blake and others, no further mentions of cast and crew’s genitalia, no more inquiries about Blake’s weight, and no further mention of Blake’s dead father.”
Lively claimed Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios then engaged in a “social manipulation” campaign to “destroy” Lively’s reputation, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit also includes alleged texts from Baldwin’s publicist to a Wayfarer publicist; they which allegedly said that Baldoni “wants to feel like [Ms. Lively] can be buried,” and “We can’t write we will destroy her.” Baldoni’s suit has denied that these are complete and accurate texts.
Attorneys for Lively said in a statement that the actress’ “decision to speak out has resulted in further retaliation and attacks.”
“As alleged in Ms. Lively’s federal Complaint, Wayfarer and its associates have violated federal and California state law by retaliating against her for reporting sexual harassment and workplace safety concerns,” Lively’s attorneys said. “Now, the defendants will answer for their conduct in federal court. Ms. Lively has brought this litigation in New York, where much of the relevant activities described in the Complaint took place, but we reserve the right to pursue further action in other venues and jurisdictions as appropriate under the law.”
Both Baldoni and Lively are seeking a jury trial.
Good Morning America has reached out to Baldoni’s rep for comment about Lively’s lawsuit against him.
