Northern Ireland born actor Ray Stevenson (King Arthur, Rome) is to star in a new film ‘The Irishman’, based on the Irish American gangster Danny Greene. The film will be directed by Jonathan Hensleigh (The Punisher) with Irish acrtress Fionnula Flanagan (The Others), Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter) and Val Kilmer (Heat) also set to star.

‘The Irishman’ was inspired by Rick Porrello's book To Kill the Irishman: The War That Crippled the Mafia, which tells the story of mobster Greene (Stevenson), who competed with the Italian mob in 1970s Cleveland and provoked a war that crippled the mafia. Walken will play nightclub owner Shondor Birns, while Kilmer will play a Cleveland policeman who becomes friends with Greene. Director Hensleigh and Jeremy Walters (Dali) both worked on the screenplay.

Vincent D'Onofrio (Men in Black), Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas) and Vinnie Jones (Snatch) have also joined the cast. Code Entertainment’s and Dundee Entertainment are producing with shooting to begin on May 19 in Detroit.