Ruben Fleischer says GANGSTER SQUAD will be an iconic gangster movie

Ruben Fleischer recently talked about his plans his upcoming period film, Gangster Squad. In an interview with Collider (via The Film Stage), he called the project a “huge, huge opportunity” that he wants to take in order to “deliver what will hopefully be an iconic gangster movie.”

Here is what Fleischer had to say about the tone of the film:

“It’s set in 1949 Los Angeles. So it’s a period gangster movie and it’s got those classic, beautiful 1940’s cars and tommy guns and those classic gangster tropes. But I think part of the reason I got the job was because of the action in Zombieland. There is quite a bit of action in gangster squad so I think it will be really fun to find a balance between these classic gangster movies and, you know, whatever my approach to the action in the film will be.”

The majority of his Fleischer's films ave been action comedies, so he has the action part down. I am personally a bit concerned about his ability to handle the dramatic aspects. 

In other news, Sullivan Stapleton (Animal Kingdom, Strike Back) is currenlty in talks for a role in the film. According to THR, Sullivan is in talks for the role of “a childhood friend of Gosling’s dapper cop, a man who grew up to become a mob enforcer but later acts as a police informant.” The cast is pretty epic so far and includes Gosling, Josh Brolin, Sean Penn, Emma Stone, Anthony Mackie, Michael Peña, Giovanni Ribisi, Mireille Enos, Holt McCallany, Robert Patrick, and Frank Grillo. Gangster Squad is slated to arrive in theaters in 2012.

What are your thoughts?