Robert De Niro, speaking at the Marrakech Film Festival on Sunday, confirmed that Netflix will release Martin Scorsese's "The Irishman," set for release next year, "the way it should be, in a theater."
"The Irishman" stars Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci. Based on Charles Brandt's novel "I Hear You Paint Houses," the film is the story of Frank Sheeran, a man who claimed to have killed fellow Teamster Jimmy Hoffa.
“We've talked about it with Netflix. They are going to do a presentation of our film the way it should be, in a theater, in certain venues, the best theatrical venues there can be,” De Niro said, adding “How they resolve it is, in the beginning, they will show it on the big screen, we're talking about big venues where it would play, where it should play, and what happens after that I'm not sure.”
READ MORE: Martin Scorsese’s ‘Irishman’ Budget Has Reportedly Risen To $140 Million “And Climbing…”
De Niro admits that the $140 million budget for "The Irishman" was a major obstacle for most major studios until Netflix stepped in, “We were fortunate enough to get it from Netflix, who have been very good to us, so hopefully there will be some compromise" on the theatrical release issue. Once the film was taken by Netflix, De Niro said the streaming giant left creative control to Scorsese, “[they] left us alone and left Marty alone to do it the way it should be done.”
De Niro also said that he and Scorsese are teaming up for another project with Leonardo DiCaprio, claiming the deal is done - “It's happening” – but wouldn't elaborate further what that project was.
That project may very well be "Killers of the Flower Moon," a crime drama set in 1920s Oklahoma that tells the story of the newly created FBI tackling one of the most monstrous crimes in American history. Based on the David Grann book, the film will be Scorsese and DiCaprio's sixth collaboration together, after "Gangs of New York," "The Aviator," "The Departed," "Shutter Island," and "The Wolf of Wall Street." De Niro has not yet been confirmed for the project, but rumor has it that he'll be playing an FBI agent in the film.
Bassim Tariq was the first one in the chair. The "Mogul Mowgli" director spent two years building out the Mahershala Ali vehicle before exiting in 2022, and he's now letting the air out on this one.