Martin Scorsese's unrealized projects

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The following is a list of unproduced Martin Scorsese projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, American film director Martin Scorsese has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these productions fell in development hell or were cancelled.[1][2][3][4][5]

1960s

Jesus in New York

Scorsese said that in the 1960s, he had an idea for a movie about Jesus but set in the Lower East Side. The film was to have been shot in black and white with the crucifixion filmed on the West Side docks.[6]

1970s

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

In the 1970s, Scorsese attempted to direct a film adaptation of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee with Marlon Brando slated to star.[7][8]


The Godfather Part II

Francis Ford Coppola suggested Scorsese to the executives at Paramount Pictures for directing The Godfather Part II (1974).[9][10]

1980s

Beverly Hills Cop

Scorsese admitted he turned down the offer to direct Beverly Hills Cop (1984).[11]

1990s

Theodora and Justinian

In the early 1990s, Scorsese was to direct a movie about Theodora and Justinian for Universal Pictures with the screenplay written by Gore Vidal.[12]

Dino

In 1992, Scorsese acquired the film adaptation rights to Nick Tosches's biography about Dean Martin titled Dino.[13] Scorsese had Tom Hanks in mind to portray Martin.[14] The screenplay was written by Nicholas Pileggi.[15][16] In 2004, Scorsese confirmed that he gave up on the project.[17][18]

High and Low

In May 1993, it was reported that Scorsese was developing an American remake of the 1963 Akira Kurosawa film High and Low for Universal Pictures.[19] In October 2008, it was reported that Mike Nichols was to direct the film with David Mamet serving as the screenwriter.[20] Scott Rudin was to have produced with Scorsese serving as an executive producer.[21]

Gershwin

In August 1993, it was reported that Scorsese was to direct a biopic about the life of composer George Gershwin with Robert De Niro and Richard Dreyfuss attached to star and the screenplay written by John Guare.[22]

2010s

Joker

It was reported in the 2010s that Scorsese was to produce and direct Joker (2019) with Leonardo DiCaprio playing the titular character.[23][24]

References

  1. ^ Lyttelton, Oliver (January 17, 2017). "Martin Scorsese: 10 Movies He's Considered Making...But We'll Probably Never See". Yahoo! News. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  2. ^ Sherlock, Ben (May 16, 2020). "10 Movies Martin Scorsese Almost Directed". Screen Rant. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  3. ^ taylor, Tom (April 5, 2022). "Five unrealised Martin Scorsese films we'd love to see come to fruition". Far Out Magazine. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  4. ^ L, Nick (April 3, 2022). "5 of Martin Scorsese's Most Interesting-Sounding Unmade Projects". Collider. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  5. ^ Scott, Sam (March 8, 2021). "Martin Scorsese Movies We'll Never Get To See". Looper. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  6. ^ Nordine, Michael (January 5, 2017). "Martin Scorsese Reveals Why He Never Made His Movie About Jesus in New York". IndieWire. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  7. ^ Grist, L. (2000). The Films of Martin Scorsese, 1963-77: Authorship and Context. Springer. ISBN 9780230286146.page 124
  8. ^ Eagan, Daniel (2009). America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781441116475.page 726
  9. ^ Beggs, Scott (December 27, 2019). "12 Surprising Facts About 'The Godfather Part II'". Mental Floss. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  10. ^ Jagernauth, Kevin (April 9, 2012). "5 Things You May Not Know About The 'The Godfather Part II'". IndieWire. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  11. ^ "Martin Scorsese turned down Beverly Hills Cop". RTÉ.ie. February 3, 2020. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  12. ^ Dutka, Elaine (July 3, 1994). "Hey, Maybe Leslie Nielsen Could Star in the Next Gore Vidal Script". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  13. ^ "Scorsese Betrays Dino". Military.com. May 14, 2009. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  14. ^ Archerd, Army (July 30, 1998). "Dean Martin bio waits for Hanks". Variety. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  15. ^ "Stax takes an in depth look at Scorsese's DINO project". Ain't It Cool News. April 27, 1999. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  16. ^ Stax (May 29, 2003). "The Stax Report: Script Review of Dino". IGN. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  17. ^ Szymanski, Mike (December 21, 2004). "Scorsese's Dean Martin story will never be seen". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  18. ^ Szymanski, Mike (December 25, 2004). "SCORSESE GIVES UP ON DINO PROJECT". News & Record. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  19. ^ Marx, Andy (May 19, 1993). "U buys 'High' for Scorsese". Variety. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  20. ^ Child, Ben (October 29, 2008). "Scorsese gets Kurosawa remake in gear". The Guardian. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  21. ^ Sciretta, Peter (October 29, 2008). "Mike Nichols, David Mamet And Martin Scorsese To Remake Akira Kurosawa's High And Low". Slash Film. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  22. ^ "GERSHWIN FILM BIO WILL IGNORE GOSSIP". Orlando Sentinel. August 6, 1993. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  23. ^ Sharf, Zack (November 4, 2019). "Martin Scorsese Considered Making 'Joker' for Four Years but Couldn't Crack Comic Book Story". IndieWire. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  24. ^ Aquilina, Tyler (November 4, 2019). "Martin Scorsese explains why he opted out of producing Joker, addresses Marvel comments". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 10, 2022.