Hollywood
Austin Butler stars in gangster drama City on Fire
Actor Austin Butler celebrated his breakthrough with his portrayal of “Elvis”. photo
© Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP/dpa
With his next film project, the “Elvis” actor goes into the world of hostile gangs in the 80s. Butler is set to star in City on Fire and also serve as a producer.
Californian actor Austin Butler is switching genres after his Oscar-nominated lead role in the biopic Elvis. With his next film project, the 31-year-old enters the brutal world of rival mafia clans: Butler will take on the leading role in the film adaptation of the novel “City on Fire” and also work as a producer, as the industry portals “Deadline.com” and “TheWrap. com” reported. Nothing was initially known about other contributors and the start of filming.
It is based on the novel by the American bestselling crime writer Don Winslow (69), who is internationally famous for his trilogy about the drug war (“Days of the Dead”, “The Cartel” and “Years of the Hunter”).
“City on Fire” follows gang crime in 1986 near the city of Boston, where Irish and Italian family gangs are engaged in a bitter feud. Butler’s performance as Elvis Presley made a big impression on him, author Winslow said, according to “Deadline.com”. Butler is now fully behind this project, which he himself has been working on for almost 30 years. City on Fire is the first book in Winslow’s planned trilogy, which will be continued with City of Dreams.
After several TV roles, Butler starred in the horror comedy The Dead Don’t Die and Quentin Tarantino’s drama Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. He had his breakthrough that year with “Elvis”. His portrayal of the rock ‘n’ roll legend won him a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama and the Leading Role award at the British Baftas, among others.