Al Capone to be Played by Nicolas Cage in The Untouchables: Capone Rising

Friends of ours: Al Capone

MTV News has confirmed that Nicolas Cage is set to play Chicago crime boss Al Capone in “The Untouchables: Capone Rising.”

Cage will reteam with “Snake Eyes” director Brian DePalma for the project, playing a younger version of the character made famous by Robert DeNiro. “Capone Rising” is a prequel to DePalma’s 1987 classic “The Untouchables,” and will revolve around the early dealings between Capone and Irish cop Jimmy Malone, a role that garnered an Oscar for Sean Connery.

Principal photography on the high-profile flick will begin in October, some 21 years after its predecessor was filmed. No word yet on whether the temporary “Capone Rising” title will be scrapped, following the chilly response audiences gave to February’s “Hannibal Rising (Unrated Widescreen Edition)” prequel.

Based on the classic 50’s/60’s TV drama, “The Untouchables” was a box-office and critical smash that announced Kevin Costner as a leading man, re-launched the career of Connery, and showed the world that you should never turn your back on DeNiro when he’s holding a baseball bat. Rumors continue to swirl that Sean Penn or Colin Farrell will be cast as the younger Connery, discussions that seem far more credible now that Cage has decided to pull a gun instead of a knife, and send doubters to the morgue rather than the hospital.

Because that, as he now knows, is the Chicago way.

Thanks to MTV