According to Deadline, Patrick Schwarzenegger — Ah-nuld’s son — has joined the cast of S. Craig Zahler’s The Bookie & The Bruiser, stepping into a dual-role setup opposite Vince Vaughn, Theo James, and Fred Melamed.
Set in 1959 New York City, the film follows Rivner (Theo James), a Jewish WWII veteran, and Boscolo (Vince Vaughn), a towering Italian-American ex-soldier who, unable to return to ordinary life after the war, team up as a bookmaker and enforcer and build a profitable but increasingly dangerous gambling operation. Their rise draws the attention of rival criminal factions, pulling them into a brutal turf war between the Mafia and an Irish gang.
Schwarzenegger plays twin brothers Augie and Bernard. Augie is a down-on-his-luck gambler whose attempt to escape a crushing debt drags Rivner and Boscolo into the orbit of New York’s warring underworld. His twin, Bernard, is a respectable family man whose life is violently upended when his brother’s schemes and dangerous creditors come calling.
Schwarzenegger recently appeared in the third season of HBO’s The White Lotus and wrapped Florian Zeller’s Bunker, starring Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem. His other credits include Prime Video’s The Terminal List and the The Boys spin-off Gen V.
Zahler wrote and directed ‘Bookie.’ Benji Bakshi is the cinematographer, which makes sense — he’s lensed all three of Zahler’s films. No distributor is attached to the film, but all indications hint at some type of 2027 festival rollout.
Zahler hasn’t released a film since 2019. His three directorial efforts—“Bone Tomahawk,” “Brawl in Cell Block 99,” and especially “Dragged Across Concrete”—speak for themselves. These are distinct works from a singular voice. A methodical filmmaker, Zahler explores the madness of morally conflicted men, with sharp dialogue and brutally drawn-out action. I can’t wait for this next one.
The source material, for the uninitiated, is Arrowhead Game Studios' co-op shooter — muscle in power armor defending "Super Earth" from bugs and robots in a war game.