The production company 30WEST has announced that Stranger Things star David Harbour is joining Cooper Raiff’s upcoming film The Trashers in the lead role as the purported inspiration for one of the most iconic TV characters of all time, Tony Soprano.
The story of The Trashers chronicles both the rise and fall of Jimmy Galante, played by Harbour, a trash magnate in Danbury, Connecticut who, In 2004, bought the city’s minor league hockey team and assigned his teenage son to run it. As per the official press release, the description says that "the team gained notoriety for their rough and violent style of play, but also developed a wide fan base as they started to win more and more games. The team’s success and fame all came to an abrupt end with Galante’s arrest on 72 criminal charges." Raiff, who gained attention with Cha Cha Real Smooth, the 2022 comedy-drama film starring Dakota Johnson, will direct the film with the script being written by Adam R. Perlman (Billions), with current revisions by Raiff. The feature is to begin shooting this fall.
Harbour is best known for his portrayal of fan-favorite character Jim Hopper in the Netflix hit series Stranger Things, a role that has earned him two Emmy Award nominations as well as two Screen Actors Guild nominations and a Screen Actors Guild win, and a Critics' Choice Award. Harbour will next appear in Legendary Entertainment We Have a Ghost and Universal Pictures’ Violent Night in starring roles. His recent credits include Black Widow, HBO’s No Sudden Move and Netflix's Extraction. “I feel so lucky to be working with David," said Raiff "He’s a magnificent actor and the perfect Jimmy Galante because he’s truly tough and impossibly warm. He’s also the best person and I hope he reads this and knows I want to be friends with him forever.”
30WEST will finance the feature. Producers include Tom McNulty of MC2 Entertainment and Andrew Morrison of Yellow Bear Films. Micah Green, Dan Steinman, and Dan Friedkin will executive produce for 30WEST alongside Jon Wertheim and Adam R. Perlman. AJ Galante, on whose life rights the story is based, will serve as an associate producer. Angela Demo is the casting director. 30WEST has produced several other projects including streaming service successes such as Tiger King and Fyre as well as numerous award-winning theatrical features including Late Night and I, Tonya. Other upcoming projects from 30WEST alongside The Trashers include Triangle of Sadness with Woody Harrelson which is set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival next month as well as the reboot of The Crow with Bill Skarsgård in the titular role.
The Trashers does not yet have a release date.