Robert De Niro’s Massive Box Office Bomb From ‘Goodfellas’ Writer Finds a New Streaming Home Next Month

There are few things that Robert De Niro loves more than a good old-fashioned gangster epic. Early on in his now decades-long career, the actor launched himself into movie star status thanks to his portrayal of a young Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Part II. In the years since, he’s led ensembles behind other revered classics, including Once Upon a Time in America, The Untouchables and Goodfellas. More recently, the actor locked into a part in Barry Levinson’s The Alto Knights, a biographical crime drama from the mind of Goodfellas writer, Nicholas Pileggi. Despite having all the makings of another modern classic, the film fell flat at the box office, but soon, Prime Video subscribers will have the chance to screen it from the comfort of their own homes when the movie hits the streamer on November 7.

One specific thing that makes The Alto Knights stand out against De Niro’s lush background of other similar titles was the decision that he would play both leading roles. The majority of the gangster flick centers around the failing relationship shared by crime family bosses, Frank Costello and Vito Genovese — both of whom were played by the Taxi Driver star. As secrets come out of the woodwork and Costello attempts to get out of the business, suspicions within his inner circle (and with Genovese) begin to flair, spinning his life into tumult and upheaval. Although much of the storyline is based on factual events, Pileggi certainly took some liberties to make everything a tad more dramatic.

The decision to give De Niro the double leading roles was an odd one, although he managed to carry out both performances smoothly. Joining the longtime Hollywood favorite to fill out the movie’s primary ensemble is a lineup that includes Debra Messing (Will & Grace), Cosmo Jarvis (Lady Macbeth), Michael Rispoli (The Sopranos), Kathrine Narducci (A Bronx Tale), Ed Amatrudo (Nashville), James Ciccone (The Deuce), and more.

‘The Alto Knights’ Was a Box Office Disaster

Warner Bros. sank a lot of money into Levinson’s return to filmmaking after a 10-year hiatus. But, unfortunately, the double De Niro-starrer couldn’t save itself from a pitiful box office run. With its production budget somewhere around the $45 million mark, the movie left cinemas earning $9 million around the globe. It was also hit with negative reviews from critics, including Collider’s Aidan Kelley, who wrote,

“Compared to another Robert De Niro-led gangster movie, The Irishman, The Alto Knights is about two and a half hours shorter. So why does it feel even longer than the infamously lengthy Scorsese caper? Abysmal pacing and a lot of pointless sequences. So many of Alto Knights‘ dialogue sequences feel entirely aimless, with the characters going round and round in tedious circles before the plot takes a mere half-step forward. A lengthy subplot involving Genevese trying to take over a local club feels like it could have been chopped from the film entirely, especially since Costello spends almost the entirety of that time just watching TV.”

Still, if you’re in the camp of De Niro or bust, you’ll want to head over to Prime Video on November 7 when The Alto Knights blasts onto the platform.