Leonardo DiCaprio Says ‘Vertigo’ is Key Influence for Scorsese’s Upcoming ‘What Happens At Night’

So, word is that Martin Scorsese has finally chosen what his next film is going to be, and it’s an adaptation of Francis Steegmuller’s “What Happens at Night,” starring, who else, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Jennifer Lawrence.

Naturally, given the vast amount of projects Scorsese has had in development, there’s still skepticism that the film will even happen, but doing the press rounds for “One Battle After Another,” DiCaprio has hinted in a few interviews that it’s indeed his next film.

DiCaprio was recently a guest on The Big Picture podcast and mentioned how Scorsese told him to rewatch Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” as a “reference point” for presumably “What Happens at Night.”

I’m working on a film where [“Vertigo”] is a reference point. Had a conversation with Marty about it. Any time you get to see and talk movies with him it’s a religious experience […] is she a ghost, or is she not a ghost? Is she there? Is he a ghost? So yeah, there’s something we’re working on that’s a reference to that.

It’s obviously “What Happens at Night,” a novel I immediately ordered and have been reading since the project was announced. The story tackles an American couple in a snowbound European town, which, much like “Vertigo,” sets you inside a dreamlike world where reality feels blurry. Both narratives probe the destructive nature of obsession.

“What Happens at Night” follows an American couple who travel to a snowy European town to adopt a baby. They check into a vast, nearly deserted hotel populated by enigmatic figures: a flamboyant singer, a corrupt businessman, and a magnetic faith healer. As they fight to bring their child home, the strange world around them begins to unravel—and so does their understanding of themselves and their marriage.

In “Vertigo,” Scottie’s fixation on Madeleine continues even after her death, leading him to remake another woman in her image. In “What Happens at Night,” the husband’s anxieties over intimacy, fatherhood, and mortality distort his experience, blurring the line between dream and reality. These are works about identity itself, and how unstable and vulnerable to desire and fear we can be.

So, it makes sense for “Vertigo” to be an influence, as it shares a world with Steegmuller’s novel that’s indistinguishable from a dream.

Production on Scorsese’s “What Happens at Night” is supposed to start in January, but since DiCaprio will likely be busy with Oscar campaigning for his excellent performance in ‘One Battle After Another’ around that time, production could potentially be pushed back to March.”