Ever since Whitey Bulger was captured last June, Hollywood has been racing to put out a project about Boston's most notorious mob boss. Now that several projects are in the works it looks like we'll finally see the Bulger story play out on the big screen.
"Untitled Whitey Bulger Project"
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are teaming up once again for their currently untitled Whitey Bulger project. Affleck will direct and star in the film alongside his brother Casey and his best bud Damon, who will play Whitey. The film, which is currently being written by Boardwalk Empire's Terrence Winter, is set to shoot in 2013 but could start as early as Fall 2012.
Actor Peter Facinelli (Twilight) and producer Robert DeFranco (Loosies) are planning to shoot "Street Soldier" in Boston this year. The film is based on the book "Street Soldier: My Life as an Enforcer for Whitey Bulger and the Boston Irish Mob" by Edward MacKenzie Jr.
Coincidently, Facinelli and DeFranco closed on the deal for the project the day before Bulger was caught after 16 yrs on the run....
"Untitled John Martorano" Producer Graham King of GK Films (The Town, The Departed) has had a Bulger project in the works for quite sometime. It started back during the filming of "The Departed" when Martin Scorsese secretly met with Winter Hill Gang enforcer John Martorano. The rights to the project was acquired by GK Films and "The Town" writer, Chuck Hogan, was tapped to pen the screenplay. The film will focus on The Winter Hill Gang and the court case that exposed a relationship between the mob and the Boston office of the FBI. After Whitey was captured in Santa Monica, King was quoted as saying that he was fast tracking the project. No word yet on when the shooting will commence but it's expected within the next two years.
One of the earliest Bulger projects in the works has been plagued with script revisions. Based on the book "Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance" by Dick Lehr, the film has been in and out of preproduction several times. This year they are giving it a shot one more time. "Righteous Kill" writer
Russell Gewirtz has extensively rewritten the script and has final draft that they are ready to put into production. No word yet on who will play Whitey.
"Rat Bastards"
Based on the memoir of Winter Hill Gang lieutenant John "Red" Shea. "Rat Bastards" is rumored to star Ed Harris as Whitey in the gritty true life crime drama. Mark Wahlberg originally acquired the rights to the project in 2006 but it has since changed hands and will be produced by Rexmedia. The film was expected to shoot Fall 2011 in Boston.
"A Criminal & An Irishman"Former Whitey Bulger rival then one time associate Patrick Nee was visited by director Tom Collins (Kings) in 2009 about developing a film based on his book "A Criminal & an Irishman: The Inside Story of the Boston Mob-IRA Connection". The film follows the life of Irish immigrant Patrick Nee's in South Boston during the height of Whitey Bulger's reign of terror. At one point Nee was caught smuggling over 160 AK-47's into Ireland. The film is still in development.
Former firefighter and local scribe, Michael Yebba, has a Winter Hill Gang themed tv pilot in the works with producer Graham King's GK-TV. The project takes a deeper look into the gang that once terrorized Boston's streets. The project is still in development but rumor has it that a very famous director will helm the project when it goes into production.
"Untitled Peter Mehlman Project" There's even a Whitey Bulger tv pilot in the works! "Seinfeld" writer/producer Peter Mehlman and FOX are planning a comedy about a young couple who get a new neighbor: the FBI's most wanted Whitey Bulger. The show will shoot in front of a live studio audience in Los Angeles.
