Barry Levinson Set To Direct Al Pacino Starring, David Mamet-Scripted JFK Thriller ‘Assassination’

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar winning filmmaker Barry Levinson is stepping in to direct the David Mamet-scripted drama Assassination, we hear, and is putting his own stamp on the project. Deadline first reported about the movie out of Cannes.

Two-time Oscar nominee and Pulitzer Prize winner Mamet originally was set to direct the movie, which tells the story of how infamous Chicago mobster Sam Giancana arranged the assassination of President John F. Kennedy as payback for trying to bring down organized crime after the mob helped put JFK in the White House.

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BAFTA winner Shia LaBeouf and Oscar winner Al Pacino remain attached to the film, 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). Executive producer are John Burnham (Atlas Artists) and Jordan Nott. Finance comes from 308 Enterprises. WME, Novo Entertainment and Hirsch Wallerstein Hayum Matlof and Fishman represent Levinson.

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.

Levinson won Best Director at the Oscars for 1989’s Rain Main, starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman, which was a blockbuster back in the day, grossing $172.8M domestic and $354.8M worldwide. He received six Oscar nominations during his career for Bugsy (Picture, Director), Avalon (Original Screenplay), Rain Man (directing), Diner (Original Screenplay) and for And Justice for All (Original Screenplay).

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