Though I’m officially an Assistant Editor here at Movie Buzzers, I believe that my secondary job title is “Martin Scorsese Schedule Keeper.” The reason for that is I’ve been tracking Scorsese’s various “next film” for two years now. After Hugo, Scorsese’s name has been attached to direct at least EIGHT different films, with one of them, The Wolf of Wall Street, just wrapping production. Of course, that now leaves at least seven other projects that Scorsese might direct next and fans of the seventy year-old director wondering which one it is going to be.
Deadline appears to have shined some light on not only the answer of the question of what Scorsese will direct next, but what film he plans on doing after that. You might recall that Scorsese was sued by Cecchi Gori Pictures for continually delaying the production of Silence, an adaption of the Shusaku Endo novel about 17th century Jesuit monks who brought Christianity to Japan, which has been referred to as Scorsese’s “next film” since filming wrapped on 2004′s The Aviator. In fact, since 2004 Scorsese has had to pay Cecchi Gori a fee every time he made a movie that wasn’t Silence.
It appears Scorsese has finally committed to making Silence as his next film. However, he is also moving forward with a film that most fans are praying that he makes — The Irishman, based on the Charles Brandt book I Heard You Paint Houses about Frank Sheeran, the man who claims to have killed Jimmy Hoffa. Scorsese just had a reading of the script at Tribeca Film Center with three men expected to be the leads — Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci (Harvey Keitel, another Scorsese favorite, has also been mentioned as another star but he doesn’t appear to have been at the reading). Deadline adds that though Paramount has the rights to The Irishman, at the reading of the Steve Zaillian script “several financiers were there looking to invest.” Zaillian also wrote Schindler’s List and Scorsese’s Gangs of New York and De Niro’s Awakenings, so yeah, with that cast, Scorsese as director, and Zaillian as writer I am sure there were many, many interested financers. I mean, who wouldn’t want to bankroll the long-awaited De Niro/Scorsese reunion, especially coming off De Niro’s first Oscar nomination in 21 years?
I’m hoping Scorsese directs both of these films next. Some of the films mentioned as possible Scorsese projects haven’t been exciting and I consider these two my “Most Wanted.” Let’s hope this news bears out!
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