De Niro will star in gun comedy

Now that that that unfortunate sniper business in D.C. is finished, it’s safe for Hollywood to start making satirical movies about rifle-wielding assassins again. A couple weeks after Tina Sinatra announced that Denzel Washington would star in the remake of her dad’s ”The Manchurian Candidate,” Variety reports that Robert De Niro will star in a Twentieth Century Fox comedy called ”Rule Number Three,” about a firearms tycoon who bullies the wrong guy, a skilled marksman who decides to take him down a peg. It’s not clear which role De Niro will take, though he certainly has experience in the vengeful-assassin arena (”The Godfather Part II,” ”Taxi Driver,” ”The Fan”).

Rob Bowman (”Reign of Fire”) is expected to direct ”Number Three,” which would be film number three or four on the hard-working actor’s schedule next year. The ”Analyze That” star is due to shoot a ”Meet the Parents” sequel called ”Meet the Fockers,” a sci-fi thriller called ”Godsend,” and the CIA saga ”The Good Shepherd,” which he’ll also direct, and which will star his ”Marvin’s Room” and ”This Boy’s Life” costar, Leonardo DiCaprio.