'The Alto Knights' starring Robert De Niro receives June premiere date on Max

"There’s always moments that surprised me when you’re working with Bob. I mean, that’s why he’s such an amazing actor, because he’s so well prepared that if he improvises, it’s not just some random thing.  Not that he’s not prepared or just going through the motions, but if things happen (he’s) connect to what the scene is about," Levinson told The AU Review. "So those surprises will happen periodically, and that’s the excitement, and that’s what makes De Niro one of the greatest actors in the history of cinema. I mean, quite extraordinary."

The film was written by Nicholas Pileggi and produced by Irwin Winkler, Levinson, Jason Sosnoff, Charles Winkler, and David Winkler. Mike Drake serves as executive producer.

"The thing that I realized was that I couldn't just do it with somebody reading lines to me," De Niro shared with Newsweek, reflecting on the experience of playing two characters. "The other mob characters were cast already, so I interviewed a few of them to see who would be the best as the other actor opposite me. There was one actor who played [Joe] Profaci named Joe Bacino. Joe learned the two scenes, and we worked on them until maybe two weeks before we were gonna shoot them. I couldn't have done it without having another person like him do it."