Helmer Michael Mann has cut a deal at Paramount Pictures to develop "
Frankie Machine" as a star vehicle for Robert De Niro.
The drama is an adaptation of Don Winslow novel "The Winter of
Frankie Machine." De Niro will play Frank Machianno, a mob hitman who has retired to run a bait shop. He agrees to help the son of a mob boss resolve a dispute with another Mafioso but is forced to turn into
Frankie Machine again when he realizes he's been set up to be killed.