From Taiwanese American producer Dan Lin, named one of “10 Producers to Watch by Variety in 2008,” comes GANGSTER SQUAD, a stylish retelling of events surrounding the LAPD’s efforts to take back their nascent city from one of the most dangerous mafia bosses of all time. The film stars Oscar® nominees Josh Brolin (“Milk,” “True Grit”) and Ryan Gosling (“Half Nelson,” “Drive”), and Academy Award® winner Sean Penn (“Milk,” “Mystic River”) as Mickey Cohen. The film opens in on January 11, 2013.

About “Gangster Squad” Los Angeles, 1949. Ruthless, Brooklyn-born mob king Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) runs the show in this town, reaping the ill-gotten gains from the drugs, the guns, the prostitutes and—if he has his way—every wire bet placed west of Chicago. And he does it all with the protection of not only his own paid goons, but also the police and the politicians he has under his thumb. It’s enough to intimidate even the bravest, street-hardened cop…except, perhaps, for the small, secret crew of LAPD outsiders led by Sgt. John O’Mara (Josh Brolin) and Sgt. Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling), who come together to try to tear Cohen’s world apart.

Under the direction of Ruben Fleischer, “Gangster Squad” is a stylish retelling of events surrounding the LAPD’s efforts to take back their nascent city from one of the most dangerous mafia bosses of all time. The film stars Oscar® nominees Josh Brolin (“Milk,” “True Grit”) and Ryan Gosling (“Half Nelson,” “Drive”), and Academy Award® winner Sean Penn (“Milk,” “Mystic River”) as Mickey Cohen. The film also stars Oscar® nominee Nick Nolte (“Warrior,” “Affliction”), Emma Stone, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Peña, Robert Patrick and Mireille Enos.

About the Production

Producer Dan Lin says, “Ruben wanted to put a new twist on the genre by taking his contemporary filmmaking aesthetic and applying it to the period setting, providing a modern edge to a story that takes place back in the days when the good guys had to act like mobsters to take down a mobster.”

“These guys have sort of been forced into a situation where, because everyone around them has become complacent or worse, it’s tough to be on the right side of the law,” adds Ryan Gosling, who plays a cop initially reluctant to join the lineup. “A few of them decide they’re not going to stand around and watch while their city is taken over, they’re going to take matters into their own hands. Some because they can’t stand the injustice and feel compelled to right the wrongs, and others, like the character I play, because it’s become personal.”

“There was a real shift in the culture at that time, and something had to be done,” Lin says. “Gangsters had taken over New York and Chicago, and L.A. had become their next target. It was virgin territory and every mobster’s dream: blue skies, sunny beaches, and beautiful girls.”

About Dan Lin
Dan Lin is the CEO of Lin Pictures, a production company based at Warner Bros. Its primary focus is producing event films and television series for a global audience. Since his company’s formation in 2008, Lin has produced films that have grossed over $1.4 billion in worldwide box office sales. He is currently producing the animated “Lego: The Movie,” written and directed by Christopher Miller and Phil Lord. He is also producing “Godzilla,” directed by Gareth Edwards, and he has a number of projects in development, including “Moses,” “Spyhunter,” and “Brotherhoods.”

Lin previously produced the hit mystery thrillers “Sherlock Holmes” and “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,” starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law under the direction of Guy Ritchie. Lin also produced the thriller “The Box,” starring Cameron Diaz, and Ricky Gervais’s comedy “The Invention of Lying,” starring Gervais and Jennifer Garner. Lin also executive produced the action thriller “Terminator Salvation,” starring Christian Bale, and Robert Rodriguez’s family film “Shorts.”

Prior to forming Lin Pictures, Lin served as Senior Vice President of Production for Warner Bros. Pictures. During his eight-year tenure at the studio, from 1999 to 2007, he oversaw the development and production of such films as Martin Scorsese’s Academy Award®-winning drama “The Departed”; “10,000 BC,” directed by Roland Emmerich; “The Aviator,” directed by Scorsese; “Alexander,” directed by Oliver Stone, “TMNT”; “Invasion”; “Unaccompanied Minors”; “Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed”; and “Torque.”