"Frankie Machine" is the name of the card-dealing, heroin-addicted protagonist in Nelson Algren's 1949 novel The Man With the Golden Arm, a role played by Frank Sinatra in the 1955 film directed by Otto Preminger.

Frank Machin is also the name of the main character played by Richard Harris in Lindsay Anderson's feature film debut This Sporting Life.

In November 2005, prior to the publishing of The Winter of Frankie Machine, interest in a film adaptation was expressed by Tribeca Productions and actor Robert De Niro.

[2] De Niro was attached to star in the lead role, and in September 2006, screenwriters Brian Koppelman and David Levien were hired to adapt the novel into a script.

[4] In 2015, director William Friedkin signed on to helm the adaptation, with potential casting choices for the lead role including Matthew McConaughey and Walton Goggins.