Um, what? A studio bidding war, with multiple studios involved, is currently happening over a Martin Scorsese film, still untitled, that’s being described as a “crime thriller” in the same vein as “The Departed” and “Goodfellas” (via Deadline).
No surprise, Leonardo DiCaprio is supposed to star in the film, but Dwayne Johnson has the actual lead role. Apparently, Johnson and Emily Blunt, who is also supposed to be part of the ensemble, came to Scorsese with the pitch and he was totally sold on it.
Set in ‘60s and ‘70s Hawaii, the film is said to follow an aspiring mob boss (Johnson) who fights rival crime factions for control of the underworld of the Hawaiian islands. Scorsese has hired Vanity Fair journalist, and doc filmmaker, Nick Bilton to write the screenplay.
It’s based on the untold true story of a man who fought to preserve his homeland through a ruthless quest for absolute power — igniting the last great American mob saga, where the war for cultural survival takes place in the unlikeliest of places: paradise.
Now, this does not mean it will be Scorsese’s next film. Bilton has not started writing the screenplay and is said to be waiting until the project finds a home studio, but whichever studio ends up nabbing the rights to this one will no doubt want it fast-tracked.
It’s quite clear Johnson, 52, wants his career to move into more serious roles. He’s already shot Benny Safdie’s “The Smashing Machine,” and recently told Variety that he’s at a point “where I want to make films that matter, that explore humanity, struggle and pain […] I’m at this point where I want more. I don’t mean I want more box office. I mean I want more humanity.”
Johnson’s best performance remains his work as the psychotic, coked out bodybuilder in Michael Bay’s “Pain and Gain,” a total guilty pleasure set in the dark underworld of Miami bodybuilding. It’s easily his best work as an actor. However, working with Safdie and Scorsese is a whole other ballgame.
As far as we know, Scorsese is attached to numerous projects, all of which could be his next film. There’s “Home,” “Devil in the White City,” “The Life of Jesus,” and, least likely, “The Wager.” Scorsese, 82, needs to get going, he’s not getting any younger, and only has so many years left to tell these stories.
Criterion's December lineup has some great additions to the library, but the title that jumped out at me is Werner Herzog's "Grizzly Man," which officially joins the Collection on December 8.