When we reported that scene-stealer Michael Pena joined the cast of Ruben Fleischer's LAPD drama The Gangster Squad, we also mentioned the rumor that Anthony Mackie had been offered a role. Now, Variety reports that The Hurt Locker star has now officially signed up for the film.
The Ruben Fleischer-directed project, based on Paul Lieberman's seven-part Los Angeles Times series (Tales From the Gangster Squad), will be about the LAPD's struggle with corruption during the forties, and it's shaping up nicely. The plot finds lawmen John O'Mara (Brolin) and Sgt. Jerry Wooters (Gosling) trying to curtail the influx of organized crime from taking over the West, led by gangster Mickey Cohen (Penn).
Now that Mackie's a lock for Gangster Squad, he'll play Rocky Washington, an ex-cop and the first black lieutenant in the LAPD, who is ultimately recruited to work as part of the squad. Before beating down goons in The Gangster Squad, the New Orleans thespian is co-starring in the sci-fi sports drama Real Steel with Hugh Jackman. It's also rumored that he may join the cast of Marc Forster's World War Z in an unspecified role opposite Brad Pitt and Mireille Enos, though his Gangster Squad gig could prevent that, scheduling wise.
The Gangster Squad will hit theaters sometime in 2013.
[Via Variety]
