On his press tour for “Killers Of The Flower Moon,” Martin Scorsese states that he may have “one more” or a “couple more” films left in his masterful career. And with the director turning 81 soon, that’s a fair assessment on his part. But World Of Reel reports (via an IndieWire interview) that if Scorsese indeed does another David Grann adaptation as his next movie, he may need to co-direct the feature, as the complexities of shooting on water may be too much for the octagenarian to do alone.
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Scorsese first signed onto “The Wager” last summer, with longtime leading man Leonardo DiCaprio on board to star. Based on Grann’s most recent work, the film will follow the 1741 mutiny after the shipwreck of the HMS Wager off the south coast of Chile. Grann’s narrative combines searfaring adventure with survivalist thriller and courtroom drama, with a lot of action taking place aboard stormy ships. Those scenes may end up too complicated for Scorsese to shoot alone. But that’s something he’ll figure out once the writers strike ends, and also after Scorsese takes a break after his current publicity tour.
“First of all, the issue is now that the writer’s strike is over, and because so much is on me to go out there and spread the word about “Killers of the Flower Moon,” let me take a break,” Scorsese told IndieWire’s Anne Thompsobn. “And we’ll get working with writers and see if we get it on the page. And maybe it’s something I could co-direct, so to speak. It’ll be difficult. But there are ways now, with certain technical things we could do, to make it bearable. Depending on how we get the script together.”
So it sounds like “The Wager” is still in early developmental stages, which Scorsese confirmed when he added that he doesn’t even know who DiCaprio will play yet. I’m not sure,” Scorsese said on which role the actor will take on. “There’s a lot of good parts. That’s the case. That’s normal. Like, for example, I don’t think we would have done “Killers” if we hadn’t made that change [DiCpario playing Ernest Burkhart instead of Texas Ranger Tom White].” “The Wager” will be the director’s seventh film with DiCpario, a collaboration that started on 2002’s “Gangs Of New York” and also includes “The Aviator,” “The Departed,” “Shutter Island,” and “The Wolf Of Wall Street.”
Scorsese has never co-directed anything in his entire career, but there’s a first time for everything. And if doing so allows him to make “The Wager,” which sounds like a passion project for the director, then diehard fans of his shouldn’t have any problem with that choice. But Scorsese’s reputation also falls on him being a solo act: an auteur with a singular cinematic vision that he’s evolved over nearly six decades. Would sharing directing duties on “The Wager” tarnish that reputation?
That may be an unfair take, mainly because what’s most important is that Scorsese continues to work behind the camera as long as his health allows him to. With only one or two films left in his career, maybe let Marty do it however he sees it.
