“Capone,” a loosely factual film from Vertical Entertainment starring Tom Hardy as the notorious mobster late in his life, earned a company-record $2.5 million in gross on-demand sales its first 10 days of digital release.
Josh Trank’s film hit the top spot on iTunes, Amazon and cable on-demand in its first three days of release last Tuesday. After the release of the Warner Bros. animated film “Scoob!,” it held strong and remained the No. 1 indie film on iTunes and second place overall. It was also the No. 4 film on FandangoNOW last week, the on-demand streaming service from Fandango.
For comparison, TheWrap reported that Kino Lorber saw the equivalent of a six-figure run for its Brazilian thriller “Bacurau” that was released through a revenue-sharing, virtual cinema model, while Oscilloscope’s release of “Saint Frances” saw approximately 10,000 virtual rentals.
Warner Bros. did not report virtual box office figures this weekend for the release of “Scoob!,” but Universal Pictures said that the virtual release of “Trolls World Tour” took in over $100 million in revenue and similarly broke VOD and streaming rental records.
“Capone” is directed and written by Josh Trank. It was originally titled “Fonzo” and was meant to be released theatrically but hit streaming early on May 12 in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We are incredibly impressed with the attention and interest surrounding ‘Capone.’ Although we wish the film could have been premiered in theaters as originally intended, we could not be more thrilled with the success of the VOD home premiere release. Thanks to the hard work of everyone involved, including our partners at BRON Studios and Redbox Entertainment and the incredible support from our cable partners, this opening has surpassed all of our expectations and we look forward to seeing ‘Capone’ continue to find its audience during these uncertain times,” the Vertical Entertainment partners said in a statement.
“Capone” shows Hardy as Capone in his late 40s after spending 10 years in prison, when he’s developed dementia and is haunted by his violent past. But he’s still the target of investigations, with one agent suspecting he may still be hiding something. “Capone” also co-stars Linda Cardellini, Matt Dillon, Kyle MacLachlan, Noel Fisher, Jack Lowden and Neal Brennan.
The film is produced by Russell Ackerman, Lawrence Bender, Aaron L. Gilbert and John Schoenfelder and is a production of BRON Studios.
17 Actors Who've Played Al Capone: From Tom Hardy to Robert De Niro (Photos)
Notorious mobster Al Capone was a larger than life bootlegger, racketeer, killer and organized crime boss in the first half of the 20th century, who has been portrayed on big-screen and small for seven decades. Here is a look at the actors who took on the challenge. And, if you're curious, here is archival footage of Scarface himself.
Rod Steiger - "Al Capone" (1959) • Rod Steiger played Capone with deliberate showiness, from the roar of his voice to the tilt of hid fedora. Although he won a Laurel Award for his performance, Capone's sister wasn't crazy about the film – she sued the filmmakers for $10 million for invasion of privacy because they failed to get permission from the Capone estate to make it. The suit was eventually dismissed. Check out Steiger as Capone in a clip here.
Allied Artists
Neville Brand - "The George Raft Story" (1961) • Although Neville Brand had an extensive resume that had him appearing in dozens of television shows for three decades, he is most recognizable for playing Capone from 1959-61 in the series "Untouchables" and the film "The George Raft Story." But giving the famed mobster a broken-English, sort of bad Italian accent in the TV pilot didn't sit well with the Italian American community. Check out Brand's performance in the clip here.
Allied Artists
Jason Robards - "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre" (1967) • Director Roger Corman was criticized for casting the slender Jason Robards as the stout Capone but the future "All the President's Men" Oscar winner nailed the bad guy's intimidating and volatile demeanor. Robards, wasn't Corman's first choice to fill the role, however… Orson Welles was. Check out Robards' performance by clicking here.
20th Century Fox
Ben Gazzara - "Capone" (1975) • The second of three films Roger Corman produced about Capone, this one spattered heavily with blood, nudity and profanity, and one of many gangster projects produced after the wild success of "The Godfather: Part II." Check out Gazzara's performance by clicking here.
20th Century Fox
Robert De Niro - "The Untouchables" (1987) • Of all the actors who have portrayed Capone, Robert De Niro's performance is probably the one best remembered by most. Ironically, he wasn't the first actor cast in the Brian DePalma film. That honor went to British actor (and Capone lookalike) Bob Hoskins, who had already been paid $200,000 when the studio decided to go with De Niro. The Oscar-winner not only gained 30 pounds for the role, but he also wore the same style of silk underwear that Capone wore to, well, feel the part. Check out De Niro's performance by clicking here.
Paramount Pictures
Ray Sharkey - "The Revenge of Al Capone" tv movie (1989) • Also known as "Capone Behind Bars," this film tells the story of an imprisoned Capone still running his empire and plotting the assassination of the mayor of New Work. Check out Sharkey's performance by clicking here.
NBC
Eric Roberts - "The Lost Capone" tv movie (1990) • Eric Roberts played Al Capone to Adrian Pasdar's Jimmy Capone in this fictionalized telling of Scarface's relationship with his older brother, who changed his last name to "Hart" and became a federal prohibition agent. Check out Roberts' performance by clicking here.
Patchett Kaufman Entertainment
Titus Welliver - "Mobsters" (1991) • A year after playing Al's brother Ralph in "The Lost Capone," Titus Welliver nabbed the role of Scarface himself in "Mobsters," which tells the story of the rise of Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Frank Costello and Bugsy Siegel. Los Angeles Times film critic Peter Rainer wrote, "Mobsters looks like it was made by people who have seen too many gangster films for people who haven't seen any." Check out Welliver's performance by clicking here.
Universal Pictures
William Forsythe - "The Untouchables" tv series (1993-94) • In 1993, William Forsythe took on the role of Capone in a reboot of the popular TV series of the early '60s, "The Untouchables." Check out his performance by clicking here.
Paramount Television
William Devane - "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" tv series (1994) • Thanks to a little DNA manipulation by a mad scientist, Capone is regenerated and set on taking over Metropolis like he took over 1930's Chicago. Check out Devane's performance by clicking here.
ABC
F. Murray Abraham - "Dillinger and Capone" (1995) • In Roger Corman's third go at telling a story about the notorious mobster, "Amadeus" Oscar-winner F. Murray Abraham played Capone to Martin Sheen's John Dillinger in this imagined tale of the two gangsters teaming up to rob a bank. Abraham again played Capone in the film "Baby Face Nelson" the following year. Check out Abraham as Capone by clicking here.
Concorde-New Horizons
Jon Bernthal - "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" (2009) • In this sequel to the 2006 comedy starring Ben Stiller, Jon Bernthal's Capone -- along with other baddies Ivan the Terrible and Napoleon Bonaparte -- is enlisted to help retrieve the tablet that brought the human and animal exhibits in the museum to life. Check out Bernthal's performance by clicking here.
20th Century Fox
Stephen Graham - "Boardwalk Empire" tv series (2010-2014) • Stephen Graham told The Guardian that he and the producers of the HBO series wanted to create a side of Capone that went unseen by most. "We wanted him to be funny because he was just a kid. He was a bright little spark, he did OK at school," Graham said. "We've never really seen him with his family before. He was also true to his wife in the days when they had mistresses left, right and centre." Check out Graham's performance by clicking here.
HBO
Michael Kotsohilis - "The Making of the Mob: Chicago" miniseries (2016) • This AMC docu-series was the origin story that told the rise and fall of the Chicago mob and Al Capone. Of his role, Michael Kotsohilis told WGN Radio, “I wanted to really show how he evolved and his real change from a young man into this cold-blooded killer.” Check out his performance by clicking here.
AMC
Isaac Keoughan - "DC's Legends of Tomorrow" tv series (2016) • DC legends, Thawne, Darhk and Malcolm transport to 1927 Chicago, where they prevent Capone from killing famed Prohibition agent, Eliot Ness. Check out Isaac Keoughan's performance by clicking here.
Warner Bros. Television
Cameron Gharaee - "Timeless" tv series (2017) • Flynn lands in 1931 Chicago to help Capone escape from prison in exchange for a favor. Check out Gharaee's performance by clicking here.
NBC
Tom Hardy - "Capone" (2020) • The "Venom" actor becomes totally unrecognizable playing Capone in the last year of his life, suffering from dementia at his Palm Island, Florida mansion. As TheWrap's own Steve Pond put it in his review of the film, "You haven't seen Al Capone until you've seen him chomping on a carrot and wielding a machine gun while wearing a droopy diaper." Check out Hardy's performance by clicking here.
Vertical Entertainment
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Here is a look at the actors who took on the challenge of playing the legendary larger than life bootlegger, racketeer, killer and organized crime boss
Notorious mobster Al Capone was a larger than life bootlegger, racketeer, killer and organized crime boss in the first half of the 20th century, who has been portrayed on big-screen and small for seven decades. Here is a look at the actors who took on the challenge. And, if you're curious, here is archival footage of Scarface himself.
Allied Artists
