If Martin Scorsese’s next movie is a Hawaiian crime drama starring Dwayne Johnson, I’ll eat my hat
Whatever happened to applying common sense in journalism? Outlets are so desperate not to miss on a ‘scoop’ — or the web traffic a scoop brings — that they never apply simple critical thinking to some stories.
And so it was in late February when several news outlets breathlessly reported that Martin Scorsese’s next movie would be a ‘Hawaiian crime drama’ in the mold of Goodfellas starring… err… Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson? (And Emily Blunt and Leonardo DiCaprio).
Reputable trade magazine Deadline said of the untitled project:
Imagine Robert De Niro’s Jimmy the Gent character from Goodfellas, but as a ruthless Hawaiian crime boss, based on a real figure, who battled encroaching rivals for control of organized crime in Hawaii.
Apparently Nick Bilton, a special correspondent at Vanity Fair, has been tapped to write the script and studios are already circling to snap up the project.
I can’t be the only one who read these reports with interest but, largely, disbelief.
Firstly, there’s this key detail in the Variety report:
there are no deals in place and the viability of the project depends on a distributor, according to multiple sources familiar with the package,
Lest we forget, this is the same Scorsese who has expressed regret that he followed up his Oscar-winning The Departed with psychological genre film Shutter Island and not something more ‘worthwhile’ (Marty! I liked it!).
In his last round of press Scorsese, 82, referenced his own mortality. He knows he only has a limited amount of time left, two maybe three projects if we’re lucky. Is it really likely one of those will be a crime film, a genre that is already well-worn ground for America’s greatest living filmmaker? (Hell, it’s already being compared to Goodfellas).
The projects he has been circling are either passion projects such as a Frank Sinatra biopic, or the long-gestating adaptation of The Devil in the White City.
Here are the facts, it’s been almost two years since Killers of the Flower Moon debuted at Cannes and, as Marty himself admitted, he’s not getting any younger. There’s a hum of sort of industry anxiety (and anticipation) about what will come next — and when.
Personally, I just don’t believe Marty would choose to make this Hawaiian crime film — and especially not work with an actor who is chronically late to set and has admitted to leaving piss bottles on set (there’s a Howard Hughes/The Aviator joke to make here).
Also the film doesn’t even have a script yet and Nick Bilton has a grand total of 0 writing credits to his name on feature films (he was involved in an HBO documentary).
Maybe Marty will produce this down-and-dirty Hawaii 5–0. But I just cannot see him getting behind the camera for this one.
But if he does, I’ll eat my hat. It’s a shame Les Blank isn’t around anymore to film it.
