After what feels like an eternity, Martin Scorsese has his next film lined up. No, it isn’t his adaptation of David Grann‘s “The Wager.” And it isn’t “The Life of Jesus“ or his Hawaiian gangster movie with Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt. And it’s not Scorsese’s Frank Sinatra biopic either, although the new project shares that one’s leading pair of actors.
Deadline reports that Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence will star in “What Happens At Night,” an adaptation of Peter Cameron‘s novel of the same name. Apple Original Films is in talks to finance and produce with Studiocanal; the latter developed the film’s script via Patrick Marber. Marber adapted Cameron’s work shortly after Studiocanal bought the rights to the novel in 2023, with Scorsese on board only as a producer. Now, after weighing other options for a “Killers Of The Flower Moon” follow-up, Scorsese decided to circle back and direct “What Happens At Night,” too.
Cameron’s novel follows an American married couple who travel to Europe to adopt a baby. But the largely deserted hotel they check into in the small, snowy European town feels frozen in time and houses an array of eccentric characters. As the couple struggles to claim their new child, they fall futher into confusion, questioning what they know about themselves, the hotel, and the life they’ve built together. That doesn’t sound too bad, like “The Shining” by way of “Shutter Island.” And Scorsese’s adaptation of Dennis Lehane‘s 2010 novel is the closest he’s ever been to making a ghost story. But who knows? Maybe the mood of Cameron’s work is more mannered and less tense and grotesque as Lehane’s.
In any case, “What Happens At Night” resolves both what Scorsese and what DiCaprio are making next. Scorsese has circled several projects since “Killers Of The Flower Moon,” most of them mentioned in the lede, while DiCaprio has mainly focused on Damien Chazelle‘s Evel Knievel biopic; the actor never officially signed on for that one, though. It’s also of note that the increasingly selective DiCaprio and Scorsese have “Home,” an adaptation of Marylinne Robinson‘s novel of the same name, in development at Apple, too. DiCaprio’s involvement on that project was confirmed this past March. Is that on hold now as “What Happens At Night” moves forward? It’s a wait-and-see situation, but both projects demonstrate that Scorsese’s Sikelia and DiCaprio’s Appian Way banners were happy with their collaboration with Apple on “Killers Of The Flower Moon,” and they’d like the relationship to continue.
As Scorsese fans wait to see if “What Happens At Night” is truly the director’s next film, Lawrence and DiCaprio both have buzzy films hitting theaeters this Fall. DiCaprio’s comes first: Paul Thomas Anderson‘s “One Battle After Another,” in theaters next Friday. Then Lawrence stars in “Die, My Love,” Lynne Ramsays‘s first film since “You Were Never Really Here” and a smash hit at Cannes back in May. That film arrives in theaters in November, courtesy of Mubi.
So, will “What Happens At Night” really be Scorsese’s next film? It feels like the director attaches himself to a new project every four to six months at this point, so take this news with a grain of salt. It sounds like an enticing project, though (at least more enticing than Hawaiian gangsters with Dwayne Johnson).
