Pete Davidson may not have had the longest tenure on SNL, but he’s really making the most of it. With roles coming up in David Michod’s stoner comedy Wizards!, and David Leitch’s How to Rob a Bank, Davidson is now adding another, his “dream job” with director Justin Chon.
Deadline reports Davidson will play infamous mafia hitman for the Bonanno crime family, Tommy Pitera, in the film Tommy Karate. Davidson co-wrote the screenplay with Chon and Joseph Gay.
Chon is an actor-turned-filmmaker whose career took off with the 2017 film, Gook, followed by the excellent 2021 drama, Blue Bayou.
Joining Davidson in the cast is Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning actor Paul Walter Hauser, who plays notorious DEA agent Jim Hunt and the man who tracked and took down Pitera. Also in the cast are Camila Mendes (Masters of the Universe) and Simon Rex (Red Rocket).
The film is based on Philip Carlo‘s true crime book The Butcher: Anatomy Of A Mafia Psychopath. Pitera was suspected of over 60 murders for the Bonanno crime family. Having learned martial arts at a young age, Pitera was known for using it in fights, which is how he earned the Tommy Karate nickname. Since 1992 he’s been serving a life sentence for six murders and running a massive drug operation.
I have a hard time buying Davidson as the psychopathic Pitera, but you never know! Maybe it’s the role he was born to play?
