The story of Michael ‘Ice Man’ Kulinski is such a juicy one, it’s not suprising the world of film has been sniffing around with ideas of making a movie version. For quite a while, Mickey Rourke has been attached to play the killer in The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer, but then a couple of months ago a poster was revealed at the American Film Market for a rival film, just called The Iceman, which claimed to have Michael Shannon, Benicio Del Toro and James Franco starring.
It was the first anyone has heard about this, and led many to wonder if the producers were pulling a fast one, and just putting those name on the poster to attract interest. However now the company behind the film has issued a press release, confirming the casting of Shannon, Franco and Del Toro, with Ariel Vromen directing.
It also suggests that while no one had heard of it until recently, it’ll be the first to get in front of the camera. Although no specific start date is mentioned, it’s believed it’s likely to shoot in the summer, ahead of the Rourke movie (which could get cancelled if this film goes ahead).
Here’s the synopsis from the press release: ‘THE ICEMAN is the electrifying true story of Richard Kuklinski (Shannon), a notorious mob contract killer and loving family man. He earned his nickname by freezing the bodies of his victims, disguising the time of death, and throwing police off-track. He was a man who used his tendencies toward violence and detachment from consequence to create an idyllic family life. His family and neighbors believed he was an average businessman, having no idea about his deadly alternate life. Kuklinski killed over one hundred people during his life. He never felt remorse for anything he had done, except hurting his family. Del Toro co-stars as Kuklinskis employer, the notorious mobster Roy Demeo, and Franco plays his mentor assassin known as Mr. Softee.’
What that synopsis doesn’t mention is that rather than just killing for money, Kulinski was a true psychopath, and had murdered numerous people before he attracted the mob’s attention, becoming one of their favoured killers because he was always changing his methods and enjoyed trying to oufox the investigatos, which made it difficult for the police to track what was going on.