Just two weeks after getting the greenlight from HBO, the network has released the first photo of Robert De Niro as Bernie Madoff in the upcoming movie The Wizard of Lies.
The image shows De Niro wearing a tracking device on his ankle, with his The Family co-star Michelle Pfeiffer standing behind him. She plays Madoff’s wife, Ruth.
The cast also includes Alessandro Nivola as Mark Madoff, Madoff’s late older son. Hank Azaria is playing Frank Dipascali, who was Madoff’s right-hand man at Madoff Investment Securities LLC, notes TheWrap.
The Wizard of Lies is being directed by Barry Levinson, who also helmed You Don’t Know Jack with Al Pacino for HBO. Levinson, De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Berry Welsh are executive producing with co-executive producer Jason Sosnoff.
John Burnham Schwartz, Sam Baum and Sam Levinson worked on the script, which is based on Diana Henriques’ book of the same name. They also used Laurie Sandell’s Truth and Consequences for further details.
It’s really surprising that we’re already seeing a photo from the production, since it was only officially greenlit on Aug. 28. It had been in the works since 2011.
photo by Craig Blankenhorn / HBO