Robert De Niro is starring in a new Netflix crime thriller from the Russo brothers. One of the most outstanding actors of his time, De Niro has been nominated for nine Academy Awards over his career, winning two for Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Part II and Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull. One of De Niro’s upcoming projects is Netflix’s political thriller Zero Day, his first major role in a television series, playing a former U.S. president tasked with finding the perpetrators of a devastating cyberattack.
Now, one of the legendary actor’s next projects will also be for the streaming service. According to The Wrap, De Niro is set to star in the Netflix crime thriller, The Whisper Man, produced by Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Angela Russo-Otstot, and Michael Disco for AGBO. James Ashcroft (The Rule of Jenny Pen, Coming Home in the Dark) is directing, with production set to start this spring on the East Coast. Russo-Otstot, CCO of AGBO, shared the following statement:
AGBO is excited to be embarking on our sixth film with our incredible partners at Netflix. The Whisper Man is a gripping thriller but at its core is a poignant and complex story of fathers and sons. We are grateful to have one of the finest actors of his generation, Robert De Niro, anchoring that story and with the remarkable James Ashcroft directing.
What The Whisper Man Means For Robert De Niro
Who Is He Playing?
With a script written by Ben Jacoby (The First Omen) and Chase Palmer (It) based on the bestselling novel by Alex North, The Whisper Man follows a widowed crime writer whose world is shattered when his 8-year-old son is kidnapped. In desperation, he turns to his estranged father, a retired police detective, for ᴀssistance, only to stumble upon a link to a long-cold case involving a convicted serial killer known as “The Whisper Man.” While The Whisper Man is a nail-biting thriller, as Russo-Otstot says, it is ultimately a moving and intricate exploration of the bonds between fathers and sons.
While De Niro is set to star in the crime thriller, it’s unclear what role he will be playing. It’s likely he will be playing the retired police detective since it’s a meatier role, but there is an off-chance he could play the тιтular serial killer. If he does end up playing the Whisper Man himself, it could harken back to his role in Scorsese’s Cape Fear as the convicted rapist Max Cady, for which De Niro received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.
Our Take On Robert De Niro Starring In The Whisper Man
The Russo Brothers’ Production Poses A Risk
The Whisper Man will be the sixth collaboration between Netflix and the Russo brothers’ AGBO after Extraction, The Gray Man, and the upcoming Electric State. While the Extraction movies are solid action thrillers, The Gray Man was panned by critics as a generic and lifeless action thriller. In turn, signing onto The Whisper Man poses a bit of a risk for Robert De Niro, but since there’s the chance of him playing a serial killer, it appears to be a risk worth taking for the time being.
Source: The Wrap
