We have to admit, when we first heard about “The Comedian” with Robert De Niro attached and the project being spun as a possible reteam with Martin Scorsese, we didn’t give it much thought. With the project sounding similar in tone to “The King of Comedy” and just the overall scarcity of info, it seemed more rumor than fact, but the project seems to be very real with a few more bits of info coming today.
The NYPost say that previous reports about Scorsese directing were erroneous and in fact, it’s Sean Penn who’s lining up to sit in the director’s chair. Written by producer Art Linson and Jeffrey Ross, the film chronicles the exploits of an aging, bitterly funny insult comic described to be in the vein of Don Rickles meets Joan Rivers. And Linson has plenty of connections with both De Niro and Penn. He produced “The Untouchables” and “Heat” starring the former, and “What Just Happened” with both actors. Additionally, Penn and De Niro co-starred in Neil Jordan‘s “We’re No Angels.” So they certainly aren’t strangers.
The newspaper posits that the film will shoot next year in New York City, but both Penn and De Niro tend to be picky and who knows what will happen between now and then or even if both are officially signed on yet (our guess is that they’re not). But it’s an interesting prospect for now, and we’ll wait to see how it develops.