Zombieland and the upcoming 30 Minutes or Less director Ruben Fleischer is stepping up in a big way for his third film. After some talks, he has confirmed to MTV that Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, and Josh Brolin will star in the period crime film Gangster Squad, set in a 1949 Los Angeles. He also let slip that his 30 Minutes star Michael Peña will be joining the cast in an unknown role.
The Will Beall script follows Gosling and Brolin as cops who hunt down Penn, playing Los Angeles mob kingpin Mickey Cohen. Fleischer also confirms shooting will begin in September and he is still toying the idea of a Zombieland 2 after Squad is finished. He notes Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin are all interested in returning. As for Peña, he will appear in Brett Ratner‘s star-studded Tower Heist at the end of the year, and just signed to David Ayer‘s cop drama with Jake Gyllenhaal.
Check out the interview with Fleischer below, where Aziz Ansari talks about an upcoming space comedy he is working on where “two disgraced astronauts have to go back to the moon to clear their names.” He also confirms his other project with Danny McBride, Olympic-Sized Asshole, which was rumored last fall.
Fleischer’s 30 Minutes or Less hits theaters August 12th and one can see the red-band trailer here.
What do you think about Peña’s involvement with Gangster Squad? What about the other projects?