Robert De Niro fans have seen their first glimpse of the actor digitally de-aged in the first trailer for Martin Scorsese's new gangster film The Irishman.

An adaptation of the non-fiction book I Heard You Paint Houses, by Charles Brandt, the big-budget mafia epic reunites the Oscar-winning director and actor with Joe Pesci.

Al Pacino, Harvey Keitel, Anna Paquin and Ray Romano also star in the film, which offers a window into the inner workings of organised crime, its rivalries and connections to mainstream politics.

De Niro plays Second World War veteran Frank Sheeran, an alleged hitman for the Bufalino organised crime family, who worked alongside some of the most notorious figures of the 20th century.

Described as "an epic saga of organised crime in post-war America", the film is told through Sheeran's eyes and spans several decades to chronicle one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in American history - the disappearance of union boss Jimmy Hoffa.

The Netflix trailer shows De Niro at various ages through the story and the film uses digital technology to capture the actors at different stages of their lives.

It features Sheeran receiving his first phone call from Hoffa and telling him he "paints houses", a euphemism for killing people, cut with dramatic scenes from the two men's lives.

It ends with him saying: "Whatever you need me to do, I'm available."

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