Carlito’s Way: Rise to Power was released in 2005 direct-to-video, a prequel to Brian DePalma‘s 1993 movie Carlito’s Way. Carlito’s Way was based on a novel by Judge Edwin Torres.

Carlito’s Way: Rise to Power stars are  Jay Hernandez as (Carlito Brigante), this movie chronicles Brigante’s rise as a heroin drug dealer in 1960s Harlem, New York. The film also features Mario Van Peebles as (Earl), Michael Joseph Kelly as (Rocco), Luis Guzmán as (Nacho Reyes), and Sean Combs as (Hollywood Nicky).

The movie starts out in 1960 in the tale of a gangster named Carlitos Brigante. Seduced by the power of the brutal New York underground crime, Carlito enters a deadly world of greed and retribution. Assisted by his two brothers in crime, Carlito is on the fast track to becoming one of Harlem’s most powerful Spanish kingpin.

Carlito quickly learns, that the only way to survive at the top of this world is through the loyalty he has to his friends and to respect the rules of the streets. Even through all of this Carlito tries to win the heart of a feisty coat check girl named Leticia, while trying to convince her he’s a good guy not the gangster everyone says he is.