Tom Hardy has handily turned into one of Hollywood's most versatile and transformative performers over the course of his career. He regularly plays larger-than-life characters, and now he has set his sights on one of America's most notorious gangsters with his new role as Al Capone in Josh Trank's Fonzo. All eyes are on Hardy to do something special with the legendary persona, and we now have our first official look at the Venom actor as the famous gangster. Check out the cool image, below.
Fonzo (based on Al Capone's real first name, Alphonse) will follow the titular gangster during the final year of his life. Offering up an Al Capone suffering from severe dementia, we will see the aging criminal come face to face with the memories of the horrific actions that he sanctioned during his reign as Chicago's most notorious mob boss. That premise alone promises something dark, and this smoky, black and white photo hammers home how Josh Trank is attempting to tap into Tom Hardy's knack for dark characters.
One thing is very clear from this photo: Tom Hardy looks like he's going to play a very different Al Capone compared to the versions seen in other movies. The prohibition-era mob boss has become a pop culture fixture in the years since his death, with actors like Robert De Niro, Eric Roberts, and even The Punisher's Jon Bernthal playing him in a wide variety of projects.
You can even check our De Niro's iconic (and delightfully campy) portrayal of the mobster in The Untouchables, below.
Most of those preceding projects portrayed Al Capone as a quintessential, pinstripe suit-wearing mobster based on the legend of the character. However, the photo of Tom Hardy in Fonzo seems to promise something grittier. Needless to say, we're very excited.
The prospect of Tom Hardy stepping in to play the role of Al Capone for Josh Trank's Fonzo is particularly intriguing when we consider the fact that he has a history of portraying silver screen gangsters. In addition to this upcoming role, the Inception actor has also made a name for himself with his characters in similar period crime dramas like Legend and Peaky Blinders, not to mention one of his most iconic roles as a similarly notorious British gangster Charles Bronson in Nicolas Winding Refn's Bronson. In addition to Hardy, the Fantastic Four director has also enlisted the acting chops of Matt Dillon, Linda Cardellini, and Twin Peaks' star Kyle McLachlan.
Fonzo does not have an official release date yet, but we will bring you more updates about the project as they become available to us. Until then, hop over to CinemaBlend's movie premiere guide to see what this year has in store on the big screen.
