New photos of Tom Hardy as Al Capone emerge and the resemblance is eerie

Tom Hardy is an actor who simply loves to play a gangster, it's Tom Hardy. Ever since he starred as Britain's most notorious prisoner Charles Bronson in the eponymous biopic movie, he's stuck to portraying all manner of thugs, mobsters and weirdos, including Alfie Solomon in Peaky Blinders, Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, and most memorably of all, he managed to play thr part of both Ronnie and Reggie Kray at the same time in the the movie Legend.

However, now Tom Hardy has been granted the opportunity to play the ultimate crime lord: Al Capone himself, in a movie directed by Josh Trank entitled Fonzo. The film's offical synopsis states: "Once a ruthless businessman and bootlegger who ruled Chicago with an iron fist, Alfonse Capone was the most infamous and feared gangster of American lore. At the age of 47, following nearly a decade of imprisonment, dementia rots Alfonse's mind and his past becomes present as harrowing memories of his violent and brutal origins melt into his waking life."

Now the first images of Hardy in makeup and costume have emerged on social media, and suffice to say, the Mad Max star looks almost unrecognisable. The movie also stars Linda Cardellini (Legally Blonde, Brokeback Mountain, Freaks and Geeks) as Al's spouse Mae Capone, as well as Matt Dillon (Crash, Something About Mary) and Kyle McLaughlin (Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet). The movie is hoped to restore Trank's reputation after the critical and commercial failure of his Fantastic Four reboot.

Capone's final years spend living in Florida were marred by poor mental and physical health. Aside from the dementia brought on by his syphilis, Capone also had to contend with a number of strokes which left him seriously debilitated. In 1946, a Baltimore-based psychiatrist examined Capone and concluded that he had the mentality of a 12-year-old boy. By January 1947 he had contracted pneumonia and later died of a cardiac arrest.

Things haven't been so rosy for Hardy either. Recently, he and his wife Charlotte Riley have been forced to move home to escape a stalker, after having to endure a lot of unwanted attention in London. A source close to the couple has claimed that their lawyers have the problem "in hand", and another stated that they're considering buying a home in the countryside, stating: "Tom is tired of the glitzy life in London and Hollywood at the moment. He wants to find a farmhouse where he can keep dogs and horses."

Personally I can't wait to see Hardy as Capone, and I'm sure he'll knock it out of the park. He has an uncanny ability to make even the nastiest, most loathsome villains somehow charismatic; although, knowing Trank's track record, I'm not holding my breath for a smash hit or anything like that. Hey ho. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.