Adrien Brody & Vince Vaughn Are ‘The Bookie and the Bruiser’

Adrien Brody and Vince Vaughn are set to be The Bookie and the Bruiser. The duo will star in a new period crime thriller from Bone Tomahawk director S. Craig Zahler. The film is in pre-production, and is slated to film this fall; it will be shopped to buyers at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival.

The film will center around two friends in 1959 New York: the intellectual Rivner (Brody) and the pugilistic Boscolo (Vaughn). Both men served overseas in World War II, and are unable to return to their normal lives after what they experienced; thus, they go into business for themselves. They establish a highly profitable illegal gambling operation, with Rivner as the bookmaker and Boscolo as his muscle; unfortunately, their success attracts attention from their criminal rivals. Soon, the two get caught up in a deadly struggle between an Irish gang and the Mafia. The Bookie and the Bruiser will be Zahler’s fourth feature, and his first since 2018’s Dragged Across Concrete; both it and 2017’s Brawl in Cell Block 99 starred Vaughn, as well.

What Can Vince Vaughn and Adrien Brody Be Seen In Now?

Vaughn recently starred in the final seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm, playing Freddy Funkhouser, the half-brother of Marty Funkhouser (the late Bob Einstein). This year, he will lend his voice to one of the imaginary friends of IF; next year, he will reteam with IF‘s Ryan Reynolds for the live action/animated comedy Animal Friends, and will star alongside Susan Sarandon in the Stephen Chbosky comedy Nonnas. He is also slated to play the lead in Apple TV+’s adaptation of Carl Hiaasen‘s Bad Monkey. Last year, Brody starred in frequent collaborator Wes Anderson‘s Asteroid City, as well as Manodrome, Fool’s Paradise, and Ghosted. He also played Los Angeles Lakers coach Pat Riley in the recently-concluded Winning Time, and guest-starred on the pilot of Poker Face. He is next set to star as a struggling architect in The Brutalist.

The Bookie and the Bruiser will be produced by Anthony Katagas (Uncut Gems) via his Keep Your Head Productions and by Dave Caplan (The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare). Anton Corp will shop the film to international distributors at this month’s Cannes Film Festival, while UTA Independent Film Group and Range Media Partners will represent the film’s North American rights.

The Bookie and the Bruiser is currently in pre-production, and is expected to begin filming this fall; no release date has yet been announced. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates, and watch the trailer for Zahler and Vaughn’s Brawl in Cell Block 99 below.