Martin Scorsese seemingly never stops working. Whether it’s “The Wolf of Wall Street,” an upcoming Bill Clinton documentary, another one for the New York Review Of Books, or even a Garth Brooks concert film, it seems as if he’s more prolific than ever. But the man isn’t just interested in his own projects; recently he’s been lending a helping hand to other filmmakers as well.
Deadline reports that Scorsese has signed on as an executive producer for upcoming thriller “Revenge of the Green Dragons,” from Hong Kong director Andrew Lau. Lau, of course, directed the "Infernal Affairs" trilogy (with Alan Mak) which “The Departed” was based on. His latest follows two immigrant brothers in 1980s-set New York “who join the Green Dragons gang and quickly rise up the ranks, becoming notorious to the city’s police. When an ill-fated love affair pits one of the brothers against the gang leader, he sets out for revenge on the group.” The film’s based on the actual Green Dragons from Queens, NY, whose story was originally chronicled in a 1992 New Yorker article. The film is expected to start production in April, and we'd wager Scorsese will be able to help Lau in getting the period details down.
The legendary filmmaker has also signed on as an executive producer to Luc Besson’s “Malavita,” an organized crime film that’s based on the novel “Badfellas” by Tonino Benacquista. Scorsese has been a creative consultant for the film since pre-production and will continue to work with Besson during post and editing. “Malavita” stars Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer and is about a retired mob boss who gets caught up in his old ways while in witness protection. The film’s expected to be released theatrically on October 18th.
No word on whether Scorsese will be as involved with 'Green Dragons' as he has been with “Malavita,” but he doesn’t produce other filmmakers’ projects that often, so hopefully he can bring out the best in both efforts.
