The film was set to be released in September. But in July, Warner Bros. pushed it back to January out of respect for the victims of the deadly Aurora, Colo., movie theater shooting.
The film had a scene at Grauman's of a violent shooting inside the theater. That scene is no longer in the movie.
Sean Penn plays mobster Mickey Cohen in the 1940s crime drama, which is inspired by a true story. Josh Brolin plays the cop leading the charge to get Cohen and his cohorts out of Los Angeles.
"Having come from California, it was nice to learn that history a bit. And it's fun just to kind of delve into this era, actually walk around. There's one thing sitting in the library and studying it and there's another thing putting on clothes and actually trying to speak through it," said Brolin.
Brolin plays one tough cop. Ryan Gosling is also part of the crime-fighting "Gangster Squad." Director Ruben Fleischer used Chinatown for the scene of a major confrontation in the film. It replaced the original shooting spree at Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
"I really admired that he did it, you know, because it really was the best scene in the movie, a very, very memorable scene," said Gosling. "And I thought it spoke to his character that he, without any ego or question, just immediately was willing to throw it out and start again."
Emma Stone brings the glamour to Grace Faraday, a woman who came to Hollywood to be a star. Her character was inspired by the past.
"Like Vivien Leigh and Rita Hayworth, and Lauren Bacall was a really major one, obviously, because I'm sure people had told Grace that they reminded her of Lauren Bacall, because I hear that with my voice, and I played Grace," said Stone.
"Gangster Squad" is rated R and opens Friday.
