News

Ray Stevenson died on location in Italy this week while working on the film Cassino in Ischi. In it, he plays Nic Cassino, who appears to be the title character. But throughout his career the actor was renowned for strong supporting roles. Stevenson exemplified this “one for all” spirit as Porthos in The Three Musketeers (2011) and honed it through The Book of Eli (2010), King Arthur (2004), the Thor movies, and the upcoming Star Wars Disney+ series, Ashoka. He was at his most supportive, even as a lead character, when he played legionnaire Titus Pullo in HBO’s Rome. Pullo was a warrior with a heart of gold, but at one point he could also be the second-hand-man to an early version of a mob kingpin.

But Stevenson was second to no one in the role of Danny Greene, the titular character of writer-director Jonathan Hensleigh’s 2011 gangster-genre love letter, Kill the Irishman.

Exclusive: Jeremy Walters and Tommy Reid, the writer and producer behind the true-life mobster drama Kill the Irishman are partnering again for the independent feature Bitter Sweet.

Bitter Sweet follows an unassuming ex-cop who is mistaken for an infamous mob hit-man and becomes entangled in a mystery to hunt the men who brutally murdered his wife.

Walters will direct off a screenplay he wrote for a production shoot in Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio next May.

Said Reid, “The revenge-thriller genre is massive in terms of its global appeal, and Jeremy Walters’ noir screenplay for Bitter Sweet is all gas — no brakes. With casting now underway, we’re excited to reteam.”

Casting for Bitter Sweet is now underway with casting director Venus Kanani,

Reid and Walters are also partnered on their docuseries currently in pre-production, Kings Of The Beach.

Kill The Irishman

Stars: Ray Stevenson, Val Kilmer, Christopher Walken, Vincent D’Onofrio, Linda Cardellini | Written by Jonathan Hensleigh, Jeremy Walters | Directed by Jonathan Hensleigh

Kill the Irishman is the true story of the rise and fall of Danny Greene, an Irish thug who worked with Cleveland’s mobsters during the 1970s. Ray Stevenson plays the lead, alongside Val Kilmer, Christopher Walken and Vincent D’Onofrio.

The similarities between this film and any number Martin Scorsese films are numerous. Kill the Irishman begins with a flash forward to an attack on Greene, a car bomb no less. Scorsese tried that one with Casino. Aside from that, it follows the tried and tested, from nothing to everything plot of the gangster genre. It just doesn’t so it as well as it could have or should have. Everything from the filmmaking to the acting just doesn’t pull through and ultimately...

Rating: 3/5

Writers: Jonathan Hensleigh (screenplay), Jeremy Walters(screenplay), Rick Porrello (book, To Kill the Irishman)

Director: Jonathan Hensleigh

Cast: Ray Stevenson, Christopher Walken, Vincent D'Onofrio, Val Kilmer, Linda Cardellini

It's going to take a lot more than firecrackers to kill Danny Greene. You see, the firecrackers he's referring to are the car bomb rigs that just exploded in his car - as he was driving it. Luckily for this tall drink of water, the radio started shorting out moments before, alerting Mr. Greene to stop, drop, and roll out of his car before physics placed his body all over the street. Greene isn't a wanted man all over, in fact he has respect from most people in his area.

Read more on Theatrical Review: Kill The Irishman...

Car bombs dominate the cinematic landscape in Kill the Irishman. They do so literally, as there’s practically a new explosion every ten minutes, and psychologically, as the fear of the bomb, the pervasive threat of a sudden and spectacular death, powerfully informs the lives of the gangsters in filmmaker Jonathan Hensleigh’s true portrait of the mob wars that rocked 1970s Cleveland. The thick, persistent tension which comes with the understanding that it could all be over at any second cuts through the familiar mob movie tropes. Despite the presence of standards such as clandestine meetings in dark restaurants and thickly-accented spaghetti-inhaling goombas, Hensleigh’s film — which he co-wrote with Jeremy Walters (based on a book by Rick Porrello, an Ohio police chief) — hews closer in tone to a war picture than Goodfellas. Thus, with notable visceral force, the film conveys organized crime’s sheer futility, the pervasive notion that it’s comprised of grown men...

Reviewed by Bob Hill

(March 2011)

Directed by: Jonathan Hensleigh

Written by: Jonathan Hensleigh and Jeremy Walters

Starring: Ray Stevenson, Vincent D’Onofrio, Val Kilmer and Christopher Walken

By reputation, there are two things the Irish do exceptionally well — drink and fight.

“Kill the Irishman” is not a film about drinking.

Rather, it is based upon the real-life story of Danny Greene, a blue-collar Celt who grew up an orphan on the outskirts of Cleveland before rising to run the dockworkers union, the rackets and — eventually — the entire east end of the city.

“Irishman” kicks off with a sweeping aerial shot of mid-’70s Collinwood, a dismal menagerie of smokestacks and warehouses bordering the Lake Erie shoreline. The film’s narrator (Val Kilmer) introduces us to the city and, more importantly, Danny Greene (played by “Rome’s” Ray Stevenson). Greene is a barrel-chested pistol of a man, well read and cocksure,...

Reviewed by Bob Hill

(March 2011)

Directed by: Jonathan Hensleigh

Written by: Jonathan Hensleigh and Jeremy Walters

Starring: Ray Stevenson, Vincent D’Onofrio, Val Kilmer and Christopher Walken

By reputation, there are two things the Irish do exceptionally well — drink and fight.

“Kill the Irishman” is not a film about drinking.

Rather, it is based upon the real-life story of Danny Greene, a blue-collar Celt who grew up an orphan on the outskirts of Cleveland before rising to run the dockworkers union, the rackets and — eventually — the entire east end of the city.

“Irishman” kicks off with a sweeping aerial shot of mid-’70s Collinwood, a dismal menagerie of smokestacks and warehouses bordering the Lake Erie shoreline. The film’s narrator (Val Kilmer) introduces us to the city and, more importantly, Danny Greene (played by “Rome’s” Ray Stevenson). Greene is a barrel-chested pistol of a man, well read and cocksure,...

Ray Stevenson in Kill the Irishman

Photo: Anchor Bay Films It was originally simply titled The Irishman, but it has since earned the name Kill the Irishman and it's actually getting a limited release this weekend. Kill the Irishman teams the director of the 2004 edition of The Punisher, Jonathan Hensleigh, with the man who played the 2008 version of the comic book character, Ray Stevenson.

In Kill the Irishman Stevenson plays real life mobster Danny Greene, a man who lorded over Cleveland's criminal underworld during the late 1970s. Christopher Walken co-stars as the infamous loan-sharking nightclub owner Shondor Birns, Val Kilmer plays a Cleveland cop who befriends Greene and Vincent D'Onofrio plays John Nardi a one-time influential associate of the Cleveland crime family who eventually formed an alliance with Greene and turned against his crime family. Is that enough talent to get you interested?

Hensleigh co-wrote the film with Jeremy Walters...

Cannes -- Vincent D'Onofrio, Vinnie Jones, Paul Sorvino, Fionnula Flanagan, Laura Ramsey, Steve Schirripa, Linda Cardellini and Bob Gunton have been added to the cast of Jonathan Hensleigh's "The Irishman."

They join Ray Stevenson, Christopher Walken and Val Kilmer in the crime tale about real-life mobster Danny Greene.

Hensleigh and Jeremy Walters wrote the screenplay for the project, inspired by the book "To Kill the Irishman: The War That Crippled the Mafia" by Rick Porrello.

Code Entertainment's Al Corley, Bart Rosenblatt, and Eugene Musso will produce, along with Dundee Entertainment's Tommy Reid and Tara Reid, who brought the property to Code. Jonathan Dana, Peter Miller, and Rick Porrello are exec producers, with George Perez serving as co-producer.

Principal photography begins next week in Detroit, Michigan.

Sales and distribution company Lightning Entertainment is repping international sales, while Icm and Dana are handle domestic sales.

The Hollywood Reporter says Vincent D'Onofrio, Vinnie Jones, Paul Sorvino, Fionnula Flanagan, Laura Ramsey, Steve Schirripa, Linda Cardellini and Bob Gunton have been added to the cast of Jonathan Hensleigh's The Irishman . They join Ray Stevenson, Christopher Walken and Val Kilmer in the crime tale about real-life mobster Danny Greene. Hensleigh and Jeremy Walters wrote the screenplay for the project, inspired by the book "To Kill the Irishman: The War That Crippled the Mafia" by Rick Porrello. Principal photography begins next week in Detroit, Michigan.

It appears I was most likely wrong in thinking Lightening Entertainment's The Irishman would be a direct-to-dvd title as the production house is out pre-selling the film at the Cannes Film Festival and Screen Daily has additional names to add to the cast. Already cast in the film, which will be directed by Jonathan Hensleigh from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jeremy Walters, are Christopher Walken, Val Kilmer and Ray Stevenson and Screen Daily announces Vincent D'Onofrio, Paul Sorvino and Vinnie Jones have also joined the cast. The film was inspired by Rick Porrello's "To Kill The Irishman: The War That Crippled The Mafia" and tells the story based on the life of mobster Danny Greene (Stevenson), who lorded over Cleveland's criminal underworld during the late 1970s. Walken is onboard to play infamous loan-sharking nightclub owner Shondor Birns, and Kilmer will portray a Cleveland cop who befriends Greene. Steve Schirripa,...

Ray Stevenson, Christopher Walken and Val Kilmer will play the leads in "The Irishman," a crime story that Jonathan Hensleigh will direct.

Code Entertainment is producing the action movie, which is based on the real story of mobster Danny Greene (Stevenson). Hensleigh and Jeremy Walters ("Dali") wrote the script, inspired by the book "To Kill the Irishman: The War That Crippled the Mafia" by Rick Porrello.

Greene was a violent Irish-American gangster who competed with the Italian mob in 1970s Cleveland and ended up provoking a countrywide turf war that crippled the mafia. Walken will play the loan shark and nightclub owner Shondor Birns, and Kilmer is a Cleveland police detective who befriends Greene.

Code's Al Corley, Bart Rosenblatt and Eugene Musso are producing, along with Dundee Entertainment's Tommy Reid and Tara Reid, who brought the property to Code. Jonathan Dana, Peter Miller and Porrello are exec producers, with George Perez serving as co-producer.

Antonio Banderas is in final talks to frontline the indie biopic "Dali" which Simon West will be helming for Media 8 Entertainment. He'll play Salvador Dali in the Jeremy Walters' written film which, according to sources, will blend music with CGI sequences in an effort to capture the inventiveness and color of the painter. The film focuses on the Spanish Catalan surrealist panter's career and his eventual misfortune. Banderas would fit the part of the versatile artist perfectly. Dali was once interviewed by Mike Wallace on 60 minutes and said "Dali is immortal and will not die." It seems he was right.

Antonio Banderas is in final talks to frontline the indie biopic "Dali" which Simon West will be helming for Media 8 Entertainment. He'll play Salvador Dali in the Jeremy Walters' written film which, according to sources, will blend music with CGI sequences in an effort to capture the inventiveness and color of the painter. The film focuses on the Spanish Catalan surrealist panter's career and his eventual misfortune. Banderas would fit the part of the versatile artist perfectly. Dali was once interviewed by Mike Wallace on 60 minutes and said "Dali is immortal and will not die." It seems he was right.

Antonio Banderas is in final talks to frontline the indie biopic "Dali" which Simon West will be helming for Media 8 Entertainment. He'll play Salvador Dali in the Jeremy Walters' written film which, according to sources, will blend music with CGI sequences in an effort to capture the inventiveness and color of the painter. The film focuses on the Spanish Catalan surrealist panter's career and his eventual misfortune. Banderas would fit the part of the versatile artist perfectly. Dali was once interviewed by Mike Wallace on 60 minutes and said "Dali is immortal and will not die." It seems he was right. For more information on the painter, please see here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Dali.