NEW YORK − Robert De Niro is bringing the Bronx to the Upper West Side.
The two-time Oscar winner (and 79-year-old new dad) will close Tribeca Festival with a June 17 screening of “A Bronx Tale,” his 1993 coming-of-age crime drama. The event will take place at the historic Beacon Theatre, featuring a post-screening Q&A with De Niro, actor/writer Chazz Palminteri and producer Jane Rosenthal.
“I haven’t seen it for a long, long time,” he says of the movie.
USA TODAY sat down with De Niro and Rosenthal before Tribeca’s opening night to discuss this year’s lineup, as well as what’s next for the Hollywood legend.
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Co-founded by De Niro and Rosenthal in 2002, Tribeca kicks off Wednesday with “Kiss the Future,” a new documentary about U2’s efforts to aid and inspire the war-torn Bosnian capital of Sarajevo in the 1990s. The 12-day festival includes Sara Bareilles’ “Waitress,” a filmed version of the Broadway musical, which will be simulcast in Times Square on June 12. There are also new music documentaries about Cyndi Lauper (“Let the Canary Sing”), French Montana (“For Khadija”), and Santana (“Carlos”), all of whom will perform.
“The Cyndi Lauper doc is really extraordinary,” says Rosenthal, noting other festival highlights including a Gloria Gaynor documentary (“I Will Survive”) and an onstage conversation between Paul McCartney and Conan O’Brien.
More than 90 feature films will make their world premieres, many of which include De Niro’s friends and former co-stars. Pam Grier (“Jackie Brown”) appears in new thriller “Cinnamon,” which pays homage to ‘70s blaxploitation movies. And Michael Shannon (“Amsterdam”) makes his directorial debut with “Eric LaRue,” about the mom (Judy Greer) of a school shooter.
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Tina Fey (“30 Rock”) is also coming to Tribeca with “Maggie Moore(s),” reuniting with Jon Hamm in the dark comedy directed by John Slattery (of “Mad Men” fame). Fey previously told Howard Stern that it was De Niro who suggested to “Saturday Night Live” head Lorne Michaels that she play former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on the sketch show in 2008.
“I did,” De Niro confirms. “We lived in the same building at the time, and one day I said to him, ‘Lorne, Tina Fey. Boy, she’d be great as Sarah Palin.’ Whether that had anything to do with what eventually happened, I don’t know. But she was so great. She’s so funny.”
Fey, who left “SNL” in 2006, won an Emmy for outstanding guest actress for her inspired portrayal of Palin. If she were to return as host, Rosenthal says Fey should impersonate Republican 2024 presidential hopeful Nikki Haley. The former South Carolina governor has stirred controversy for her transphobic remarks and insistence that Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” laws don’t go “far enough.”
“Oh, yeah, she’d be a really good Nikki Haley,” De Niro says. “She’d do a good job with that.”
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‘A Bronx Tale’ nearly didn’t star Chazz Palminteri
Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, “A Bronx Tale” is the first of two features that De Niro has directed (the other being “The Good Shepherd” in 2006). Adapted from Palminteri’s autobiographical one-man show, the film follows a boy (Lillo Brancato) whose allegiance is torn between his protective father, Lorenzo (De Niro), and a local mobster, Sonny (Palminteri).
Initially, multiple studios approached Palminteri about writing the screenplay, but wanted a bigger star such as De Niro to play Sonny. De Niro guaranteed Palminteri the role, so long as he could direct.
“I said, ‘Look, the studio’s going to buy it and they’ll give you a lot of money, but maybe (you) wouldn’t be able to play Sonny,’ ” De Niro recalls. “So I said, ‘The only thing I can promise is you will play Sonny if I direct it, and I’ll play the father. Eventually, they’re going to come to me to play Sonny, so let’s eliminate that.’ “
The movie was a critical success and helped launch Palminteri’s career, with roles in “The Usual Suspects,” “Modern Family” and “Bullets Over Broadway,” for which he earned a best supporting actor Oscar nomination. De Niro also co-directed a 2016 musical adaptation of “Bronx Tale,” which ran on Broadway for nearly two years.
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In addition to the milestone anniversary for “Bronx Tale,” De Niro’s “Mean Streets” is also turning 50 later this year. The crime drama was the actor’s first collaboration with director Martin Scorsese. The duo have now made 11 movies together, including “Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull,” “The Irishman” and Apple’s upcoming “Killers of the Flower Moon” (in theaters Oct. 6).
The movie, which co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone, earned rave reviews at Cannes Film Festival in France last month, and tells a twisted love story set against the backdrop of the Osage Nation in 1920s Oklahoma.
De Niro hopes “Flower Moon” is not his last project with Scorsese and DiCaprio. In fact, he’s been circling another project for the three of them to do together, although he’s mum on the specifics.
“I do have one project we’ve been talking about for many, many, many years,” De Niro says. “I was saying to them the other day in Cannes, ‘Let’s just talk about it one more time.’ So hopefully we will soon. Something that I thought would be good for me and Marty and Leo. I don’t want to say anything about it, but I will one day.”
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