Why Robert De Niro’s Mob Drama ‘Alto Knights’ Is Such a Box Office Disaster

by

In the crime thriller titled “The Alto Knights,” featuring two distinct roles by Robert De Niro, audiences found it hard to accept the proposition.

Over the weekend, the Warner Bros. movie earned just $3.2 million at U.S. cinemas, marking one of the poorest beginnings for a big studio release in history. The film “The Alto Knights” also faltered internationally, bringing in only $1.8 million, leading to a dismal global total of $5.1 million. With an initial production cost exceeding $45 million and marketing expenses yet to be factored in, “The Alto Knights” is already shaping up as one of the year’s major flops.

Movie enthusiasts, on the other hand, aren’t puzzled about the movie’s underperformance. They argue that “The Alto Knights” falls into a genre – mobster films – which has been considered outdated for many years. Critics have also been harsh in their reviews, giving it a 37% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences, however, were more forgiving, grading the film with a “B” on CinemaScore surveys. Despite this, these mixed evaluations don’t indicate a positive outlook for word-of-mouth promotion.

For quite some time now, I’ve noticed that crime stories like this one have fallen out of favor,” I, David A. Gross, a consultant at FranchiseRe movie firm, observe. “Given the current softness in the theatrical market, it seems unlikely to find success.

The movie, helmed by Barry Levinson – director of “Wag the Dog” and “Rain Man”, and adapted by Nicholas Pileggi, famously associated with projects like “Goodfellas,” “Casino” and “The Irishman”, narrates the story of Frank Costello and Vito Genovese, two old friends who grew up to become infamous New York crime lords.

To thrive in its competitive cinematic environment, the movie “The Alto Knights,” which has been met with strong resistance, requires positive buzz or award recognition. Regrettably, critics didn’t seem to favor it, with some finding Robert De Niro acting alongside himself to be confusingly redundant. Michael O’Sullivan from The Washington Post criticized the move as “not merely unnecessary, but extremely distracting,” while Justin Chang of The New Yorker labeled it an “unusual trick.” (In his review, he questioned the purpose)

Despite gangster movies not being particularly popular when David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, approved the film in 2022, his decision to allocate a $45 million budget and release it in theaters was met with some surprise on the studio lot. Levinson, who had been working on “The Alto Knights” (originally titled “Wise Guys”) with Pileggi and producer Irwin Winkler prior to the pandemic, told EbMaster that Pileggi’s connection with Zaslav was instrumental in getting the project greenlit.

In a pre-release interview, Levinson shared that Zaslav had previously known Nick and during their conversation, the topic of [the film] emerged. This piqued Zaslav’s interest, which eventually led to everything falling into place.

The studio saw potential for “The Alto Knights” to join Robert De Niro’s esteemed collection of beloved gangster films, many of which (such as “Goodfellas” and “Mean Streets”) were produced by Warner Bros. For De Niro, working on “The Alto Knights” was a chance to revisit the genre that catapulted him to stardom. At 81 years old, De Niro rose to enduring A-list status with classic Mafia movies like “The Godfather Part II,” “The Untouchables,” “Casino,” and “Goodfellas.” He also poked fun at his longstanding connection to Cosa Nostra cinema in the “Analyze This” films.

Despite its age, this genre of movie seems to have passed its peak popularity, as even films like Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” a Western crime drama from 1920s Oklahoma that starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, faced difficulties at the box office despite a $200 million budget. This film, which was nominated for several Oscars, has been followed by a series of commercial flops in Levinson’s recent work, such as “Rock the Kasbah” (comedy from 2015), “The Humbling” (drama from 2014), “The Bay” (horror mockumentary from 2012) and “Man of the Year” (political comedy from 2006). The only significant box office success for this Oscar-winning director in the last few decades was “Wag the Dog,” which earned $65 million against a budget of just $15 million, back in 1997.

Jeff Bock from Exhibitor Relations notes that ‘Alto Knights’ is a movie reminiscent of old Hollywood, but its director and lead actor are no longer popular at the box office. Warner Bros. didn’t provide much promotion for the film, which can be detrimental in today’s marketplace. Without significant studio backing, it’s often a recipe for poor performance at the box office.

Who attended the opening weekend of “Alto Knights”? It seems that a majority were older white men, Canadians, and people living near Canada. The exit polls show that 60% of the audience was male, Caucasian (with 27% Hispanic, 7% Black, 3% Asian, and 3% Native American), and over 90% were above age 25. Interestingly, three of the top-earning cinemas during this opening weekend – Cineplex Queensway Toronto, Cineplex Winston Churchill Toronto, and Cineplex Laval Montreal – are located in Canada’s neighboring countries rather than traditional high-grossing cities like New York City and Los Angeles.

It appears that Canadian audiences have shown interest in an adult-themed drama, which seems less common these days in the North American marketplace, according to Bock.

Following the less-than-successful theatrical outings for Warner Bros., ‘The Alto Knights’ joins Bong Joon Ho’s big-budget sci-fi comedy, ‘Mickey 17,’ as the studio’s second consecutive flop. Interestingly, both films star Robert in multiple roles. In ‘Mickey 17,’ Robert Pattinson plays a disposable employee whose body can regenerate for scientific purposes. After three weeks in theaters, ‘Mickey 17’ has grossed $40 million domestically and $110 million globally. While this is a decent return for an original production, the film’s production cost of $118 million means it needs to earn around $275-$300 million just to break even. Given these figures, ‘Mickey 17’ is now projected to lose approximately $75-$80 million in its cinema run.

The studio’s financial situation is expected to improve in April with the release of “A Minecraft Movie,” a film adaptation of the well-known video game starring Jack Black, which is projected to have a good start at the box office. Later in the year, there are also James Gunn’s “Superman” production, as well as sequels to “Mortal Kombat,” “Final Destination,” and “The Conjuring.” However, Warner Bros. has numerous other significant projects lined up, including Paul Thomas Anderson’s expensive production titled “One Battle After Another,” priced at $140 million, and Ryan Coogler’s vampire thriller “Sinners,” with a budget of $90 million.

Before the premiere of “The Alto Knights,” Levinson appeared optimistic about the unpredictability characteristic of the film industry, an arena he’s spent several decades working in.

In this line of work, there are numerous challenges you’ll encounter, and it’s all about finding the best way forward, Levinson shared with EbMaster. However, there are instances when you can reflect on the interesting stories you’ve told and the exceptional actors you’ve collaborated with. The drawbacks are inevitable, but they’re part of the job description.

Read More

2025-03-24 19:20