The classic 1984 film The Pope of Greenwich Village is getting adapted into a miniseries by its original producers and a host of established talent. Original producers Gene Kirkwood (Rocky, Producer) and Hawk Koch (Wayne’s World, Producer) are joined by “Oscar-winning writer Nick Vallelonga (Green Book), writer/director George Gallo (Midnight Run), and Oscar-nominated actor/writer/playwright Chazz Palminteri, (A Bronx Tale),” according to Deadline. Together this team will collaborate to adapt an eight hour narrative of The Pope of Greenwich Village. The miniseries will be based on both the 1984 film adaptation and the best-selling book by Vincent Patrick that originally released in 1979.
The plot of the show will center on two cousins named Charlie and Paulie. They are two young men who’ve grown up in 1970’s New York under the shadow of the Italian mafia. They work at a restaurant, but due to their insatiable desire for wealth they concoct a plan to rob a local merchant. The mafia get involved after the heist goes topside and a police officer winds up dead. After being faced with the backlash from the mob, the cousins are faced with some life-threatening consequences.
Vallelonga expressed his excitement having the opportunity to work on this project. “My father, Tony Lip, who Green Book was about, played the role of Frankie Shy in the opening scene of the original film, and I was an extra in the stickball scene, so to have this opportunity to be working with George and Chazz on the retelling of Vincent Patrick’s amazing story, is really coming full circle and quite an honor for me,” Vallelonga stated according to Deadline.
With an established crew working on this miniseries and a story that revolves around the Mafia, television fanatics and fans of the original film and novel can look forward to the television adaptation of this classic crime drama story.