Rodrigo Prieto to DP Martin Scorsese’s ‘What Happens at Night’

It’s time for production grids to start circulating for Martin Scorsese’s “What Happens at Night,” starring Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio.

A specific grid has a production start set for February in the Czech Republic, with further filming to take place in New York City. Additionally, and much to the surprise of nobody, Rodrigo Prieto is attached as cinematographer.

An adaptation of Peter Cameron’s wintry novel, “What Happens at Night” follows an American couple in a snowy European town to adopt a baby. Staying in a nearly deserted hotel filled with enigmatic figures—a flamboyant singer, a corrupt businessman, and a magnetic faith healer—they confront a strange world that challenges their marriage and sense of reality.

Prieto has shot Scorsese’s last four films — “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “Silence,” “The Irishman,” and “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Before that, Scorsese’s 21st century ouput was mostly shared between DP’s Michael Ballhaus and Robert Richardson.

Prieto has worked with the likes of Ang Lee, Spike Lee, Pedro Almodóvar, Alejandro González Iñárritu, and Greta Gerwig, but Scorsese is the one filmmaker he’ll always answer the call for. He had recently mentioned that he was supposed to shoot Scorsese’s “Sinatra” in late 2024 before plans got suddenly halted.

“We were supposed to be filming now; that’s why I couldn’t do other films. So anyway: I’m in the waiting process and hopeful that everything will come together,” he told The Film Stage.

Prieto is the master of the “bounce” — which brings up exposure levels without overtly jarring shadows. He is known for his high-speed film work via handheld camera and Steadicam rigs. He doesn’t necessarily have an all-encompassing style, jumping from the excess lighting of “The Wolf of Wall Street” to the more restrained starkness of “Brokeback Mountain,” but he’s one of the most in-demand DPs in the game, and for good reason.

As Scorsese and Prieto begin prep on “What Happens at Night,” more casting announcements are expected in the coming weeks, with several key supporting roles still to be filled.