Will the next Hollywood movie made in RI star Austin Butler? Some hope so.

Paul Edward Parker, Providence Journal
Updated ·1 min read
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PROVIDENCE – As the Hollywood picture "Ella McCay" winds down filming in Rhode Island, another production the state's Film & Television Office hopes will be made here is in its early stage.

Sony's 3000 Pictures studio is developing a movie starring Austin Butler and based on a crime novel by Rhode Islander Don Winslow, who set the story in Providence.

"It is our goal to bring that movie to Rhode Island," said Steven Feinberg, head of the state Film & Television Office, "and we will be a dog on a bone to work closely with Don Winslow to make that happen."

What's 'City on Fire' about, and why is it set in Rhode Island?

3000 Pictures hopes the project, the first in a trilogy, will become a star vehicle for Butler, who was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of Elvis Presley in 2022's "Elvis," also starring Tom Hanks.

Bestselling author and Rhode Island native Don Winslow at East Matunuck State Beach, one of the settings fictionalized in his new book, "City on Fire," part one of a trilogy about warring crime families in Rhode Island.
Bestselling author and Rhode Island native Don Winslow at East Matunuck State Beach, one of the settings fictionalized in his new book, "City on Fire," part one of a trilogy about warring crime families in Rhode Island.

As reported by Deadline, the studio has secured screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes to adapt "City on Fire," which chronicles the battles between the Moretti and Murphy crime families. Kuritzkes wrote the script for "Challengers," starring Zendaya. Deadline called "City on Fire" a "high priority" for the studio.

Butler would portray Danny Ryan in "City on Fire," a retelling of the classic Greek tragedy "The Illiad" projected through the struggles of feuding Irish and Italian crime gangs. Winslow's sequels, "City of Dreams" and "City in Ruins," similarly retell "The Odyssey" and "The Aeneid."

Austin Butler was in the biopic "Elvis" and in "Dune Part Two" and soon will produce and star in the film adaptation of Don Winslow's book "City on Fire," which Winslow set in Providence.
Austin Butler was in the biopic "Elvis" and in "Dune Part Two" and soon will produce and star in the film adaptation of Don Winslow's book "City on Fire," which Winslow set in Providence.

In addition to starring in "City on Fire," Butler will produce the film, along with David Heyman, producer of "Barbie" and all eight "Harry Potter" films, and Shane Salerno.

Butler is currently starring with Timothée Chalmet and Zendaya in "Dune: Part Two."

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: 'City on Fire' movie adaptation to star Austin Butler could film in RI