Franco, Del Toro & Shannon Set to Kill in Millennium’s ‘Iceman’

Shannon will play real-life contract killer Richard Kuklinski; Franco plays another assassin, “Mr. Softee,” while Del Toro will take on the role of mob employer

Michael Shannon, Benicio Del Toro and James Franco have signed onto star in the mob-killer biopic "The Iceman," according to a joint announcement put out by the film's co-producers, Millennium Films and Bleiberg Entertainment.

Shannon will play the role of real-life hitman Richard Kuklinski, who confessed to over 100 contract killings, many of them involving his signature disposal method of freezing the remains.

Del Toro will play Roy Demeo, Kuklinski's mob employer, while Franco will take on the role of fellow contract killer Mr. Softee. Ariel Vromen will direct a screenplay he co-wrote with Morgan Land.

The project is based on Anthony Bruno's book "The Iceman: The True Story of a Cold-Blooded Killer," as well as the Jim Thebaut's documentary "The Iceman Tapes: Conversations with a Killer"

Concurrently, writer Phil Carlo, who wrote "Iceman: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer," has been working a film adaptation for several years, at one point partnering with producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura (a partership that dissolved when di Bonaventura tried to cast actor Channing Tatum in the title role).

According to the New York Post, Mickey Rourke has been attached to that project.

 

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