Six months ago I wrote a post about what Martin Scorsese‘s next film after Hugo would be. Well, Hugo is in theaters now (read Alex’s review and Melissa’s review!) and there’s still no confirmation on what Scorsese’s next project will be. Scorsese has been rumored to direct Silence, Sinatra, The Irishman, The Snowman, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Comedian (which has since been snatched up by Sean Penn), The Gambler, and even a Taxi Driver sequel or remake, which are enough projects to take the sixty-nine year old director well into his eighties.
But we’re finally getting some answers. First, The Guardian reports that Scorsese has finally formally agreed on directing yet another project: he will direct The Snowman, “an adaptation of the seventh book in Norwegian writer Jo Nesbø’s series of novels about hardboiled Oslo detective Harry Hole” about “a murderer who always leaves a snowman near the scene of his crime.” Nesbø confirmed the news himself after selecting Scorsese himself, even if it’s likely that Scorsese will transplant the story to the United States.
After that (though it still isn’t confirmed if The Snowman will be his next film), in an interview with MTV (of all places) Scorsese has revealed some details about his future plans. First of all, he dispels any rumors of a Taxi Driver sequel or remake (thank goodness!). He also confirms that he plans to reunite with Robert De Niro on The Irishman which he claims he will shoot sometime next year. This film, based on the life of of Frank Sheeran, the mob hitman who claims to have murdered Jimmy Hoffa, has not only Robert DeNiro in the lead, but Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel, and Al Pacino attached to star. Probably the top four “mafia” actors of the later half of the twentieth century in one film… so, uh, let’s get working on this now, okay? It sounds like The Expendables of gangster films.
Yet Scorsese still professes interest in one more film in the interview, too: Sinatra, a biopic of Frank Sinatra written by Phil Alden Robinson, the writer-director of Field of Dreams. Scorsese still wants favorite Leonardo DiCaprio to star as the singer, but has jettisoned the Robinson script for a new draft. He also comments on having DiCaprio lip synch instead of having him take singing lessons and that he might shoot the film in 3D (really?) Since there’s no script yet, it’s not likely that we’ll see Sinatra anytime soon.
Of course, don’t forget about Silence, the story of the 17th century Jesuit monks who brought Christianity to Japan. Though it doesn’t seem like it’s any closer to being completed, Scorsese talks about that one, too, in an interview with Deadline, describing the project as “It’s been an obsession, it has to be done and now is the time to do it. It’s a strong, wonderful true story, a thriller in a way, but it deals with those questions.” So it has to be done now? So are you shooting that one next, Marty?
So we’re not really any further along in figuring out Scorsese’s next project yet, are we? I guess we’ll have to wait until Scorsese actually gets behind the camera again.
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