Pete Davidson Will Play Mafia Hitman Tommy Karate Opposite Paul Walter Hauser

Pete Davidson will bring his dirtbag charisma to the role of Thomas Pitera, mafia soldier and karate guy.

Thomas “Karate Tommy” Pitera was a real piece of work, as they say in the trade. Well is; he’s serving a life sentence for murder and drug trafficking, as so often occurs in the course of one’s career as a hitman and footsoldier for a Mafia family. He’s also getting the biopic treatment, with Deadline reporting that Saturday Night Live alumnus Pete Davidson will be playing Pitera in the upcoming Tommy Karate, with Paul Walter Hauser (Cobra Kai, Richard Jewell) as Jim Hunt, the DEA agent who took him down.

As a teen, Pitera was a massive fan of Bruce Lee – and hey, whomst amongst us? But most of us don’t go on to become karate champions and learning ninjutsu in Japan for two years before putting those lethal skills to work in service to the Bonanno crime family – which Tommy did. He’s suspected of 60 or so murders, and was convicted of six in 1992. By all accounts he was a loving family man and all around good guy – he just enjoyed torture and murder on the job.

Which sounds like interesting material for a film to me – and to Pete Davidson, who has been working for three years on the project, co-writing the script and producing as well as taking the central role. Camila Mendes (Riverdale) and Simon Rex (Red Rocket) co-star, with Justin Chon directing. Chon also co-write the script with Davidson and Joseph Gay.

Speaking about the film, Davidson said, “Tommy Karate is the greatest mob story never told. I’ve been working on this for over three years, and I’m beyond thrilled that it’s finally in motion. Playing a role like this is a dream job. We have a great team behind this one, and I can’t wait for people to see what we’ve come up with.”