Al Pacino First Look Revealed for Tribeca World Premiere of “Killing Castro,” Starring Diego Boneta as Fidel Castro

Deadline publishes exclusive first footage of Al Pacino portraying a CIA official in the Tribeca Film Festival political thriller, which dramatizes Fidel Castro’s 1960 New York stay and follows a young translator drawn into surveillance-era power dynamics.

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The Tribeca Film Festival will host a world premiere of the political thriller “Killing Castro,” and a new report released Monday offers the first look at Al Pacino in the film. Deadline said the footage shows Pacino playing a CIA operative opposite Diego Boneta, who stars as Fidel Castro in the feature’s depiction of the revolutionary’s 1960 visit to New York. Deadline’s exclusive material frames the story as a tense encounter built around surveillance and solidarity, with “as converging forces close in,” a young translator pulled into what the outlet describes as a tightening web of power. The report did not identify the translator’s character by name, but it places the central conflict in the period surrounding Castro’s time in Harlem and the attention surrounding his presence in the United States. The first look comes as the production continues to build visibility across major film festivals ahead of its premiere in New York. Deadline reported in 2025 that Romulus Entertainment released first images for “Killing Castro,” with the film later scheduled for a world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. That earlier coverage indicated the project had already moved through the early stages of festival packaging and international positioning. Separately, Deadline also reported in 2023 on casting for the project, identifying Al Pacino and Diego Boneta among the stars, and describing the film as being based on Castro’s 1960 trip to New York and the United Nations. That casting information establishes the film’s broad historical premise before the more specific first-look reporting published Monday tied Pacino’s role to a CIA official. In the newly released first footage, Pacino is presented within the thriller’s counterintelligence setting, while Boneta is shown in the physical transformation associated with the role of Castro. Deadline’s Monday report highlighted the pairing as a core component of the film’s dramatic structure, with Castro and the CIA-linked presence confronting each other through the lens of an intermediary character caught between competing forces. As the film prepares to reach Tribeca, the next steps for audiences and industry observers are the festival’s screening schedule and any additional promotional materials that follow the first-look release. For now, the public record confirms Tribeca as the venue for the world premiere and ties the cast to the historical context described in earlier coverage, while the full plot specifics are expected to be clarified through the festival run and official synopsis materials.

Why It Matters

The Tribeca premiere date places the film within a major U.S. festival circuit at a time when festival exposure can affect distribution deals and audience reach.
The cast and historical framing, including Pacino’s CIA role and Boneta’s portrayal of Castro, report a production strategy centered on internationally recognizable talent and a real-world political setting.
The story’s focus on surveillance-era power dynamics and an intermediary translator highlights how politically charged historical events can be reframed through individual character perspectives for mainstream audiences.
As festival screenings approach, confirmed scheduling and official synopsis details are likely to define how the film’s historical premise is presented to the public.

Sources

Key Facts

“Killing Castro” is set for a world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, according to Deadline.
Deadline published an exclusive first look showing Al Pacino playing a CIA operative in the film.
Diego Boneta stars as Fidel Castro in the Tribeca-bound political thriller.
Deadline describes the movie as reimagining Castro’s 1960 Harlem stay through an encounter involving surveillance and solidarity.
A young translator character is described as being drawn into escalating power dynamics as competing forces close in.
Earlier Deadline reporting described the film’s premise as based on Castro’s 1960 trip to New York and the United Nations.