Tom Hardy Will Finally Get to Play Al Capone in ‘Fonzo’

Man, it must be nice to be Josh Trank. OK, so you’ve only ever directed two feature films in your entire life. Fine, Fantastic Four was such a bust that it caused studio executives to publicly attack you in the media. And yeah, your short tenure as a Star Wars director ended with you walking away from the franchise in favor of more personal projects. For many filmmakers, any of those three things would be enough to cross your name off the financing shortlist for future projects. But Josh Trank just takes a lickin’ and keeps on tickin’.

Whether or not Trank deserves all these second chances, it looks like he is finally going to get a chance to prove himself with a personal project. Earlier today, Deadline announced that Trank had now begun pre-production on an Alfonse Capone biopic with Tom Hardy set to star as the famous gangster. According to the Deadline piece, the movie will focus on the final years of Capone’s life after years of confinement following his arrest for tax evasion, at a point where “dementia rots his mind and his past becomes present as harrowing memories of his violent and brutal origins melt into his waking life.” That’s certainly a fun way to structure your flashbacks.

As luck would have it, this is not the first time that Hardy has been set to play Al Capone. Back in 2011, it was announced that Hardy has signed on for Cicero, a film adaptation of Capone’s life that was set to be directed by Harry Potter helmer David Yates. Hardy even spoke at length with the Daily Mail about his preparation for the role, which included combing through the Warner Bros. archives and watching old gangster movies attempting to capture some of the glamour of Capone’s lifestyle. Despite the promising cast and crew, however, Cicero never came to be; it would seem that Hardy has decided to put that research to good use in Trank’s original project.

Jokes about Trank’s career aside, it’s an interesting premise and a great bit of casting. Here’s looking forward to seeing where Hardy’s portrayal of Capone ranks in the history of the character.