Martin Scorcese Set To Direct De Niro, Pacino & Pesci In The Irishman

Scorcese fans - prepare to be very, very excited indeed.

Deadline report that the legendary director is close to landing a deal at the Cannes Film Festival to make ‘The Irishman,’ a long-in development adaptation of the memoir of real-life hit man Frank ‘The Irishman’ Shearan and his role in the infamous Jimmy Hoffa disappearance.

The reason this give particular cause for excitement is the casting, as ‘The Irishman’ is reportedly poised to star, among others, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci.

Still, Deadline stress this is by no means a sure thing yet. ‘The Irishman’ has been on the drawing board for a few years, and reportedly rights-holders Paramount may be a little nervous over a budget said to be in the region of $100 million.

However, it will be a momentous occasion if ‘The Irishman’ does get off the ground, as it will be the first time that De Niro and Scorcese have worked together since 1995′s ‘Casino.’

The director and actor were long synonymous with one another, collaborating many times from the 1970s onwards on such films as ‘Mean Streets,’ ‘Taxi Driver,’ ‘Raging Bull,’ ‘Cape Fear’ and ‘Goodfellas.’

Pacino, surprisingly, has never acted in a Scorcese movie, although he and De Niro have co-starred in Francis Ford Coppola’s classic ‘The Godfather Part 2,’ before teaming up in Michael Mann’s 1995 movie ‘Heat,’ and (somewhat less notably) Jon Avnet’s 2008 movie ‘Righteous Kill.’

Meanwhile, Joe Pesci - who won an Oscar for his role in ‘Goodfellas,’ and reunited with De Niro and Scorcese on ‘Casino’ - has largely retired from acting since the late 1990s, although he did make an appearance in De Niro’s 2006 directorial effort ‘The Good Shepherd.’

Acclaimed screenwriter Steve Zailian (who scripted Scorcese’s ‘Gangs of New York’) has adapted the screenplay from Charles Brandt’s book ‘I Heard You Paint Houses’ - the title referring to something Hoffa reportedly said to Sheeran, ‘painting houses’ being a metaphor for assassination.

We wait with baited breath to hear if ‘The Irishman’ will get a green light.

Picture Credit: Getty Images, Millennium Films, Warner Bros

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