Smokin' Aces is a 2006 American-British-French crime film written and directed by Joe Carnahan. It stars Jeremy Piven as a Las Vegas Strip magician turned mafia informant and Ryan Reynolds as the FBI agent assigned to protect him. The film was the debut of singer Alicia Keys and rapper Common as actors, and also starred Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Andy García, Ray Liotta, Taraji P. Henson, Chris Pine and Matthew Fox. The film is set in Lake Tahoe and was mainly filmed at the MontBleu casino, called the "Nomad Casino" in the film. On July 17, 2007, director Joe Carnahan announced that production had been approved by Universal Pictures for a second Smokin' Aces film, titled Smokin' Aces 2: Assassins' Ball, which he would not direct. The film is a prequel to the original and was released straight to DVD on January 19, 2010.
