While we’re still waiting for Paramount Pictures to make a decision on when to release “Silence,” which will pretty much be wrapped up and ready to go later this fall, Martin Scorsese‘s next picture, “The Irishman,” is coming together. The rights to the project have been selling steadily over the past few months, with STX paying out big money to distribute the picture domestically, and with China’s Media Asia now snapping up the film, a few more details have emerged, including when we might see the finished movie.
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Deadline reports that right now, the plan is for “The Irishman” to shoot in 2017, with a release planned for late 2018 (hello, Oscars). Okay, so it’s not a laser focused release date, but it gives us at least an idea of when we keep our eyeballs out for the picture.
Penned by Steve Zaillian (“Gangs Of New York,” “Schindler’s List,” “Moneyball,“ “The Night Of“), the adaptation of “I Heard You Paint Houses” by Charles Brandt tells the true story of Frank Sheeran, a WWII veteran who led a colorful life as a high-ranking officer in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters while also dabbling in organized crime as a highly-sought-after hitman, with rumored ties to the deaths of President Kennedy and Jimmy Hoffa. And while initial casting suggested Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci and Harvey Keitel would feature in the movie, a couple of those names aren’t in the mix. Pesci has apparently turned down the movie altogether, while Keitel recently told Variety, “I have not been asked” to join the picture.
At any rate, it’s the return of Scorsese and De Niro that is the big draw for everybody, though there’s no doubt that Pacino, Pesci, and Keitel being part of the equation would be amazing. [Deadline]