Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling and Josh Brolin have received offers from Warner Bros. to star in a new crime drama Gangster Squad, reports Variety.
Based on a seven-part series of newspaper articles by Los Angeles Times staff writer Paul Lieberman about a ‘Gangster Squad’ established by the LAPD in the 1940s to keep the East Coast Mafia out of the area, Warner Bros. bought the rights to the series and hired Will Beall (Castle TV series) to write the screenplay, and Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland) to direct.
Fighting organized crime back then had an ‘anything goes’ approach that lasted well into the 1950s. As Lieberman explains in his opening article, “Noir L.A. was a time and place where truth was not found in the sunlight, and justice not found in marble courthouses, and where not a single gangland killing was solved, not one, for half a century. Not on paper, anyway.”
Sean Penn has been offered the role of gangster Mickey Cohen, however roles for Gosling and Brolin are unknown as yet.
In the meantime, Sean Penn will be visiting the Cannes Film Festival on May 16 for a screening of his latest movie, Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life, which also co-stars Brad Pitt.
Ryan Gosling stars opposite Steve Carell and Julianne Moore in Crazy, Stupid, Love which opens on July 29.
Josh Brolin is currently shooting Men in Black III with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. The third installment is due for release next year on May 25.