Hoffman and Hawke Star in Lumet Film "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" | Playbill

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News Hoffman and Hawke Star in Lumet Film "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" Broadway stars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke head the cast of the latest Sidmey Lumet film, "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," which also features a number of other stage veterans.

Kelly Masterson penned the screenplay based on his original stage work. The R-rated, 117 minute film opens in a limited release Oct. 26. ThinkFilm distributes the film that was produced by Brian Linse and Michael Cerenzie through their companies, Linsefilm Ltd. and UNITY Productions.

Billed as a "suspense thriller about a family facing the worst enemy of all – itself," the film focuses on "Andy (Hoffman), an overextended broker who lures his younger brother, Hank (Hawke) into a larcenous scheme," according to an official synopsis. "The pair will rob a suburban mom-and-pop jewelry store that appears to be the quintessential easy target. The problem is, the store owners are Andy and Hank's actual mom and pop and, when the seemingly perfect crime goes awry, the damage lands right at their doorstep."

The cast also features Marisa Tomei (Salome, Wait Until Dark) as the woman sleeping with both brothers and Albert Finney (A Day in the Death of Joe Egg) as the justice-bent father. Rosemary Harris (Waiting in the Wings, A Delicate Balance), Brían F. O'Byrne (The Coast of Utopia, Doubt), Michael Shannon (Bug, Killer Joe), Amy Ryan (A Streetcar Named Desire, The Women) and Lee Wilkof (Democracy, The Odd Couple) also appear.

Rounding out the ensemble are Arija Bareikis (Intimate Apparel), Myra Lucretia Taylor (Nine), Leonardo Cimino (The Iceman Cometh), Damon Gupton (The Story), Adrian Martinez (The Last Days of Judas Iscariot), Alice Spivak (Funnyhouse of a Negro), Natalie Gold (Twelfth Night), Keith Davis (Festen), Chris Chalk (The Overwhelming) and Sakina Jaffrey (Phaedra Britannica).

Hoffman, co-artistic director of Off-Broadway's Labyrinth Theatre Company, won an Academy Award for his work in "Capote." He was last seen on the stage Off-Broadway in Jack Goes Boating and previously was Tony Award-nominated for turns in A Long Day's Journey Into Night and True West. Known for his work in such films as "Boogie Nights," "Flawless," "Magnolia," "State and Main" and the upcoming "The Savages" among others, Hoffman has also directed for the stage. Among his directorial credits are Rebecca Gilman's Pulitzer Prize finalist The Glory of Living and Stephen Adly Guirgis' The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Our Lady of 121st Street and Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train. Hawke currently directs Off-Broadway's Things We Want for The New Group — the company for which he starred in the recent revival of David Rabe's Hurlyburly. As an actor, he last appeared on Broadway in The Coast of Utopia and has also played in Henry IV and The Seagull. An Academy Award nominee for "Training Day," other screen credits include "Dead Poets Society," "Reality Bites," "Great Expectations," "Hamlet," "Tape" "Chelsea Walls" and "The Hottest State" — also directing the latter two.

Lumet's numerous credits include "12 Angry Men," "Mr. Broadway," "The Iceman Cometh," "Long Day's Journey Into Night," "Serpico," "Dog Day Afternoon," "Network," "Equus," "The Wiz," "100 Centre Street" and more.

For more information on the film, visit thinkfilmcompany.com.

 
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