Gangster Squad was going to be Michael Peña’s other big release for 2012–his and Sean Penn’s, Ryan Gosling’s, Emma Stone’s, and everybody else’s But one of the most vivid and heavily promoted scenes in the movie has the entire crew of Tommy-gunning cops hiding behind a movie theater screen and proceeding to shoot up the joint, filled as it was with mobsters…and unfortunately, that trailer was circulating–and the film scheduled to premiere–just days after the tragic Batman Rises shootings in Colorado. So much to everyone’s regret, the film was quietly postponed until the new year.
Gangster Squad, set in 1949 Los Angeles, starts Sean Penn as mobster Mickey Cohen, at war with a team of outsider LAPD cops led by James Brolin and Goslin. Peña is one of the team, and–as always–just a bit of a bad-ass.
Director Ruben Fleischer
and artist Mister Cartoon
The buzz on Gangster Squad has been consistently good, and Michael Peña has another chance to get noticed, along with the re-release in December of End of Watch. And the Latino connection to the film continues, with renowned tattoo and graffiti artist Mister Cartoon’s premiere of his new exclusively designed billboard for the upcoming feature, now on display at Platinum Motorsport’s wall on the iconic Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. Mister Cartoon (aka Latino street artist Mark Machado) was also involved in the development of a customized Gangster Squad car, which will be on display at the 2012 LA Auto Show and traveling to additional locations throughout the country. Learn more about Cartoon and his amazing work here.
Meanwhile, Gangster Squad finally premieres January 11, 2013.
