Imagine The Godfather if it were written by Homer, set in Reagan-era Rhode Island, and starred Elvis Presley's ghost in a bomber jacket. That's the promise of City on Fire—and the hype is more than just smoke.
Austin Butler, still hot off Elvis and edging into grittier terrain (Dune: Part Two, anyone?), will lead City on Fire, a brutal crime saga based on Don Winslow's 2022 novel. It's the kind of project that wears its literary pedigree on its bloodstained sleeves—tragedy, power, betrayal—and now it has the right team to match.
Deadline reports that Matt Ross (Captain Fantastic) will direct, marking a tonal pivot from quirky family drama to street-level ultraviolence. And here's where it gets interesting: Ross hasn't directed a feature since 2016. That's a long hiatus, and one that suggests he's been waiting for a story worth bleeding for.
The script, penned by Justin Kuritzkes (Challengers), is said to lean hard into the source material's tragic arc—gritty, grounded, and unapologetically adult. With Butler playing Danny Ryan, an Irish mobster pulled into a gang war he never asked for, the emotional stakes feel primed for a slow burn. This isn't just mob cosplay—it's moral collapse.
Crime sagas are Hollywood's equivalent of comfort food—familiar, violent, and usually drenched in nostalgia. But City on Fire might have an edge. Winslow's novel isn't just another Scarface knockoff; it's the first in a planned trilogy that reimagines ancient epics (The Iliad, The Odyssey) in the grime of American organized crime. That's more David Chase than Martin Scorsese—a slow, character-focused unraveling.
And that's what separates this from the dozen gangster dramas dumped on streaming every year. In fact, compare it to The Irishman (2019): both feature introspective leads and a haunting sense of inevitability. But where Scorsese gave us finality, City on Fire promises a beginning.
Butler, of course, is the wild card. He's not just playing tough—he's playing tragic. A man slipping into darkness, one violent act at a time. The role demands more than brooding; it demands erosion. And after proving his ability to inhabit larger-than-life personas, Butler might finally show us what happens when the mask cracks.
This could be the start of a new crime epic for a generation raised on Breaking Bad and Greek myth. But what do you think—can Butler carry a trilogy soaked in blood, betrayal, and brotherhood? Or will this burn out before it ever sparks?
