After years in development, with progress that would make your average snail look speedy, it appears the next – and ninth – collaboration between Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro might actually have a confirmed home. Gangster movie The Irishman is headed to Netflix in a new deal, according to Indiewire.
In the works since at least 2008, the Steven Zaillian-scripted adaptation of Charles Brandt's tome I Heard You Paint Houses, the film will look at the life of mob hitman Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran, whose career allegedly included the slaying of union leader Jimmy Hoffa.
Paramount had previously agreed to back the movie, with STX taking international distribution rights to share the costs of the film, which could run to around $100 million. But the studio, which is in something of a flux state following the departure of chairman Brad Grey, has backed away from a potentially risky movie, even given the talent on board. With Al Pacino and potentially Joe Pesci still in talks to join the cast, the film should now launch in cinemas with an as-yet-unnamed business partner before arriving on Netflix worldwide. First, of course, Scorsese actually has to make the thing, and he's aiming for a 2019 release.