Scorsese, ‘Departed’ Screenwriter, & DiCaprio to Possibly Re-Team for Remake of ‘The Gambler’, Writer of Original is Pissed

Martin Scorsese has driven me crazy lately.  The Oscar-winning — and some would argue greatest living — director is rumored to direct to no less than seven film projects, including an Elizabeth Taylor/Richard Burton biopic that was announced less than three months ago.  So imagine my surprise when yet another project has been announced with rumors that it could involve Scorsese: Deadline is reporting that Scorsese will possibly re-team with his current favorite actor Leonardo DiCaprio (who has starred in four of Scorsese‘s most recent films) and writer William Monahan, who previously won an Oscar for his script on the Scorsese/DiCaprio’s collaboration The Departed, to remake The Gambler.  The Gambler is a 1974 autobiographical drama starring James Caan written by James Toback, an English professor whose gambling addiction lead to trouble with the mafia.  Irwin Winkler and Bob Chartoff, who produced the original, are set to produce the remake also.

While many people are excited at the prospect of another collaboration among these three, there is one person who has a major issue with the remake: James Toback, who wrote the original based on his life story.  Though Toback does look forward to the idea that the remake would lead Paramount to release his original on DVD (it is currently out of print), in a long tirade to Deadline he makes it clear that he is disappointed that no one involved with the production approached him about the remake until the announcement, particularly Winkler and Chartoff, who were involved in the original production, nor DiCaprio, who Toback had nearly worked with before.  While Paramount owns the film and has no legal obligation to do so, Toback believes that because of the personal nature of the material he would receive a head’s up before he had to read the story himself on Deadline.

There remake is early in the process so it might not actually even happen, but after reading Toback‘s argument what’s your take on it?  Did the people working on the film have a moral obligation to contact Toback first?