For the last two years running, Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” has been at the top or near the top of our annual 100 Most Anticipated Film list we compile at the end of each year looking forward to what’s next. 2018 came and went and of course, the longer the year went on, the more and more it seemed like Scorsese’s gangster movie for Netflix wouldn’t arrive this year.
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De-aging special effects have reportedly soared the budget to $175 million and made the post-production process a lengthy and delayed one. But we know that “The Irishman” is finally arriving this year. Recently, the trades, talking to Netflix CEOs, noted that “The Irishman” (and possibly Steven Soderbergh’s “The Laundromat”) would receive the “’Roma,’ treatment” from the streaming service. Translation: an expansive theatrical release on top of a regular Netflix premiere and very likely a significant Oscar push.
What does this mean for a release? Well, probably a world premiere at one of the fall film festivals, just like Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” which premiered at the Venice Film Festival, played Telluride, the Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival. That festival barrage was then followed by a lavish treatment of a rare and sizeable theatrical release from Netflix who then pushed it to multiple Oscar nominations including Best Picture (which has a strong shot at winning at the end of the month).
So, many pundits, including us have assumed “The Irishman” is likely headed to a Venice premiere in late August. That’s been somewhat corroborated recently.
Actor Sebastian Maniscalco, who plays legendary crime boss “Crazy” Joe Gallo in Scorsese’s movie told Joe Rogan on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, “The Irishman” an October 2019 premiere on Netflix.
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“It’s coming out in October…I didn’t sleep for the first week leading up to the [first] scene, because I knew it would be with De Niro and Pesci,” Maniscalco told Rogan (note, he says the budget is $145 million as originally rumored). “When I went in there, I told myself that I’m not speaking to nobody. I’m gonna speak when I’m spoken to. There was a part when they were lighting De Niro and I, we’re standing face to face, and I’m looking straight at him.
Additionally, Playlist contributor Jordan Ruimy says he was also recently told at Sundance by a cast/crew member who worked on the film “The Irishman” will be arriving on Netflix in October.
That could be the plan, but don’t consider it confirmed just yet. There’s always the chance Cannes figures out its ongoing Netflix drama and premieres the film in May and depending on the reception there, that potentially could shift things. Who knows, but yes, it sounds like fall is at least the ballpark as of right now and if it clicks with critics and audiences, expect Netflix to throw massive muscle behind it.
“The Irishman” is based on the true crime book “I Heard You Paint Houses,” about mob hitman Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran, notorious for allegedly killing infamous gangster Jimmy Hoffa. Sheeran, the protagonist, will be played by Robert De Niro, Al Pacino plays Hoffa and the Netflix/Scorsese movie also stars Joe Pesci, Ray Romano, Harvey Keitel, Anna Paquin, Bobby Cannavale, Jesse Plemons, Jack Huston, Stephen Graham and many more.
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