A few weeks ago, it looked like S Craig Zahler would be making the noir thriller The Big Stone Grid as his first movie since Dragged Across Concrete back in 2018. Now, it turns out that Zahler will indeed be making a new film, but it will be an all-new project that re-teams him with his frequent star Vince Vaughn. The movie The Bookie and the Bruiser is a period crime flick that teams Vaughn with Adrien Brody, and the film is set to be shot later this year. 

According to the release from Anton, the company financing the film, “The Bookie & the Bruiser is set in 1959 New York City and features a pensive, Jewish fellow named Rivner and an oversized Italian-American tough named Boscolo from the Lower East Side, both of whom served overseas in World War II and returned changed men who no longer fit inside the lives they’d left behind.  Uninterested in taking orders from bosses or playing by the rules of polite society, the two friends partner up as a bookmaker and an enforcer and create an illicit gambling operation that proves to be very profitable, though risky, and their situation gets rather sticky when they find themselves stuck between a powerful Irish gang and the Mafia.”

While it hasn’t been confirmed, it doesn’t take a genius to figure Vaughn is playing the titular bruiser, with Brody as the Bookie. For those who may not know it, Vaughn is actually one of the most physically imposing actors in Hollywood, with him standing a massive 6’5. I interviewed Vaughn (along with the great Don Johnson) some years back when he did his first movie for Zahler, Brawl in Cell Block 99, and took a photo with him. To note, I’m 6’2 (on a good day), but I looked TINY next to him. Check it out:

Being a huge fan of Vaughn’s, I’m very excited to see him re-team with Zahler. While I thought Dragged Across Concrete was more Mel Gibson’s film than Vaughn’s, he was superb in the kick-ass Brawl in Cell Block 99, one of my favorite action films from the last ten years. While I enjoy Vaughn in comedy, I like him even more in darker fare, and this sounds like a perfect film for him. Ditto Adrien Brody, who’s been on a roll recently, with him having a killer role as Pat Riley on the, unfortunately, cancelled Winning Time. 

Needless to say, this one is skyrocketing up to the top of my list of must-see movies for 2025. Zahler’s made three movies so far (Bone Tomahawk, Brawl in Cell Block 99 and Dragged Across Concrete), and they’ve all been exceptional.

Are you excited to see The Bookie and the Bruiser? Let us know in the comments. 

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