Pino and Buggin’ Out are back on the streets of New York together. John Turturro and Giancarlo Esposito, who first shared the screen amid the tension of Spike Lee’s iconic 1989 drama Do the Right Thing, reunite in the crime thriller The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, written and directed by Noah Segan. Sony Pictures Classics has released the official trailer ahead of the film’s fall release.
Turturro plays Harry Lehman, an aging pickpocket plying his trade with ever-diminishing returns in a drastically changed New York. Cash-stuffed wallets have given way to easily canceled credit cards and Apple Pay, leaving Harry’s old-school analog skills increasingly worthless as he struggles to make ends meet while caring for his disabled wife Rosie, played by Karina Arroyave. When he unwittingly steals and fences a valuable USB drive, Harry finds himself in a race against time to return it before a vengeful crime family catches up with him.
Esposito co-stars as Detective Allan Warren alongside Will Price, Tatiana Maslany, Victoria Moroles, Steve Buscemi and Jamie Lee Curtis. Rian Johnson serves as executive producer.
This is not the first time Turturro and Esposito have shared the screen beyond Do the Right Thing. The pair also appeared together in the 2001 fantasy comedy Monkeybone, though it is their shared New York roots and their history with Spike Lee’s landmark film that gives this particular reunion its weight, bringing them back to the streets of the city that has defined so much of both of their careers.
The film premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival to strong critical acclaim, where it was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics. Critics praised its gritty authenticity and its love letter to a New York City that is rapidly disappearing. “You watch this movie, it’s steeped in New York. It is just drenched in the city,” Johnson said of the film at Sundance.
The Only Living Pickpocket in New York opens in New York and Los Angeles on October 23 before expanding nationwide October 30.