Nicolas Cage and John Woo to reunite in independent crime tale ‘Gambino’

Nicolas Cage is set to reunite with his Face/Off director John Woo to star in New York-set crime drama Gambino. 

The project, financed by NextG Films, is being launched this week at the American Film Market, with WME Independent handling sales. 

Woo will direct from a script by George Gallo and Nick Vallelonga. Producers are Cassian Elwes, Edward Zeng of NextG, Robert Daly Jr, and David Lipper of Latigo Films. Cage, Gallo and Vallelonga will also produce. 

Cage will play Carlo Gambino, a butcher’s son from Sicily who rules New York’s underworld with quiet authority. When Gambino dies, journalist Jimmy Breslin follows the trail he left behind to reveal how he rose to power. 

The real-life Carlo Gambino headed the Gambino crime family in the sixties and seventies before his death in 1976. The real-life Jimmy Breslin died in 2107. 

Cage starred with John Travolta in Woo’s 1997 action sci-fi hit Face/Off. 

NextG’s Zeng commented: “At NextG Film, our vision is to unite the finest creative talents of Hollywood with the bold entrepreneurial spirit of Silicon Valley. Together, we aim to deliver an epic cinematic experience that brings audiences back to the theater again and again - an experience that not only entertains but inspires people to reflect on the world we live in today. Humanity stands at a crossroads. Through powerful storytelling and innovative artistry, we hope to remind everyone that the future is ours to shape, and it is our shared responsibility to make it better.”

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