Pete Davidson is showcasing a brand-new side in the upcoming crime-thriller Tommy Karate.
Davidson, 32, will portray Tommy Pitera, the notorious Bonanno crime family killer, in the upcoming feature film that’s currently in production.
Tommy Karate, inspired by a true story, is based on Philip Carlo’s biography The Butcher: Anatomy of a Mafia Psychopath about the circumstances leading up to Pitera’s capture.
Pitera, a mob enforcer known for his martial arts skills, had been suspected of carrying out 60 murders. He was ultimately convicted in 1992 for six murders and supervising a mass drug-dealing operation in Brooklyn, New York, and was sentenced to life in prison.
Tommy Karate will chronicle the notorious pursuit of Pitera. Davidson, who also cowrote the script with director Justin Chon and Joseph Gay, will star alongside Paul Walter Hauser, Camila Mendes and Simon Rex.
Long before Davidson’s thrilling role in Tommy Karate, which he also produced, he rose to fame on Saturday Night Live in 2014. After leaving the variety show after eight seasons, Davidson has made his mark on the big screen. His credits also include The King of Staten Island and Bodies Bodies Bodies.
“I don’t want to be doing this forever. It’s exhausting to be in the public eye all the time, mentally draining, and it occupies a lot of time and travel,” Davidson told Vanity Fair in April, referring to his Hollywood career. “I’ve done research, and most people who make their bank have a drink or a f***ing soccer team. They always have a thing, so I was trying to find my thing.”
Outside of the limelight, Davidson became a parent in late 2025. (Davidson shares daughter Scottie Rose, named after his late father, with ex-girlfriend Elsie Hewitt.)
“I want her to be funny, obviously, but there’s just something that my dad had that, like, he just had this face where you already like this person,” Davidson exclusively told Us in January. “Like, Jon Bernthal has that face where, if you saw [him] at CVS, you’d be like, ‘I want this guy to be my uncle’ without knowing what he did or whatever. I just hope she has that sort of vibe.”
He added at the time, “Obviously, Elsie is super beautiful, so I know [Scottie will] be really pretty. You want that face where you’re, like, ‘Have I met you before? How do I know you? Why do I feel so comfortable around your face?’ That’s what I hope she gets from my dad.”
