More than four decades after its release, Once Upon a Time in America is back in the spotlight as a new film aims to tell the story behind its difficult path to the screen. The 1984 crime drama from director Sergio Leone is widely seen as one of the most ambitious films ever made. It follows Jewish gangsters Noodles, played by Robert De Niro, and Max, played by James Woods, across decades in New York City.
Now, Italy’s Leone Film Group is developing a biographical feature about the making of Once Upon a Time in America. According to Variety, the project will trace Leone’s long struggle to bring the film to life. Production is expected to move between Rome, New York, Los Angeles, and Cannes. The story will also look at Leone’s early life and the years leading up to the film’s release.
Raffaella Leone, the director’s daughter and co-CEO of Leone Film Group, said the film will focus on her father’s long pursuit of the project. She described it as the story of a man who spent 15 years trying to make one movie. She added that the film will present that journey with a sense of irony that reflects her father’s personality. This might be very similar to Paramount Plus’ The Offer which chronicled the tumultuous making of the Godfather movie.
Directors Giuseppe Stasi and Giancarlo Fontana, known for The Bad Guy, are attached to lead the project. They are also writing the script with Ludovica Rampoldi and Davide Serino. The team plans to draw from real production challenges that shaped the original film. Raffaella Leone is producing alongside Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio, a senior executive at EssilorLuxottica and president of Ray-Ban.
The original Once Upon a Time in America faced major setbacks. The story began as a semi autobiographical novel by former gangster Harry Grey. Leone turned it into a nearly four hour film, but the studio cut it down heavily for its U.S. release. That version confused audiences and hurt its box office performance. Later restorations helped restore Leone’s full vision and changed how critics and fans viewed the film.
Today, the film is often mentioned alongside Goodfellas, Scarface, and The Godfather. Leone had once been offered the chance to direct The Godfather, but he turned it down to focus on his own project. In recent years, streaming platforms like Disney+ and Prime Video have introduced the film to new audiences. Its reputation has grown, with an 86 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes and praise for its visual style and emotional depth.
The renewed attention highlights how a project once seen as a commercial failure can find new life years later and examines how studios handle creative control, especially as streaming continues to reshape how audiences discover older films.
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English (US) · 