Robert De Niro’s Forgotten Gangster Epic Finally Finds Success on Streaming

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Robert De Niro sitting in the hospital with a bandage on his head in 'Alto Knights'

Britta DeVore is a Senior Author for Collider who has been known to dabble with Reality News as well.

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It takes a lot for folks to turn their backs on Robert De Niro. Since his earliest days in the industry, the award-winning actor has been a selling point, with many turning up to cinemas to see movies based on his involvement alone. While we love him in comedies, dramas, and even sci-fi, there’s one genre that he wears on his chest like a badge of honor because it’s with mobster movies that De Niro always hits his stride — that is, until The Alto Knights. The 2025 Barry Levinson-helmed biopic left audiences with much to be desired, garnering negative reviews left and right and leaving cinemas with an abysmal box office haul. Yet, one year later, it seems as though audiences around the world are feeling more willing to give the feature a second shot, as, according to FlixPatrol, it’s currently in seventh place in HBO Max’s global Top 10.

On paper, The Alto Knights had all the makings of a hit. Not only was Rain Man, Sleepers, and Wag the Dog helmer Levinson behind it, but it was also penned by Nicholas Pileggi, who genre fans will recognize as the scribe behind the novel Wiseguy, which served as the foundation for Martin Scorsese’s 1990 gangster epic, Goodfellas. Meanwhile, not only does De Niro star in one leading role, but he also appears opposite himself in The Alto Knights as both crime bosses at the center of the story, Frank Costello and Vito Genovese. Unfortunately, it seems like where Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan went right for the latter’s double role in Sinners, Levinson and De Niro just couldn’t pull it together.

Set in 1950s New York, Frank Costello (De Niro) is itching to get out of the game after a failed assassination attempt nearly takes his life. Willing to pass on his position at the top of the Luciano crime family — and all the money, danger, and paranoia that comes with it — he approaches his underboss, Vito Genovese (De Niro), to take over as the new leader. The pair were once the closest of pals, having come up in the family together, but now they’ve become rivals, with one as uncertain as the other about their true intentions. Additionally, the film also features supporting performances from Debra Messing, Michael Rispoli, Cosmo Jarvis, and Kathrine Narducci.

‘The Alto Knights’ Crash and Burn at the Box Office

With a 40% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, The Alto Knights is one of the less celebrated titles from De Niro’s expansive catalogue. The movie celebrated a spring release last year via Warner Bros. Pictures, which dropped the title into theaters in late March. Against a budget of $50 million, the crime drama fell incredibly short of its target, earning just $9 million by the time it exited cinemas.

Now, The Alto Knights is coming for its piece of the pie on HBO Max, where it’s currently climbing its way up the streamer’s global Top 10.