Anthony Mackie officially joins Ruben Fleischer's GANGSTER SQUAD

Anthony Mackie is officially set to star in Ruben Fleischer's Gangster Squad for Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow. We first told you about the possibility in April. Mackie joins the cast that includes, Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin and Michael Pena. 

The script is written by former Los Angeles Police Dept. officer Will Beall. Gangster Squad is being produced by Dan Lin and Kevin McCormick through Lin Pictures and Langley Park, respectively; Jon Silk, of Lin Pictures, is co-producing.

The movie will be based on a series of articles in The Los Angeles Times written by Paul Lieberman back in 2008. The articles examine an LAPD unit that's set up in the 1940s to fend off the growing influence of the East Coast Mafia in the city. The police group ended up becoming very powerful, and the battles with the Mafia escalated, leading to mayhem and betrayals. The LAPD unit was a secret "off the record" police task force who went after Meyer Harris "Mickey" Cohen, a high-profile gangster who was a member of the "Jewish Mafia". Gosling and Brolin are set to play the two cops, while Penn will play Cohen.

Mackie will play former LAPD lieutenant Rocky Washington. He starred opposite Matt Damon in The Adjustment Bureau and will be seen next opposite Hugh Jackman in Real Steel. What are your thoughts on this casting news?