Out on the Fockers rounds, Robert De Niro seems to have confirmed what was already widely rumoured. Crime thriller The Irishman**, is "definitely" happening, with Martin Scorsese behind the camera, and De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci sharing the billing.
Not to be confused with the superficially similar Kill the Irishman, this dream-team project is based on Charle's Brandt's book I Heard You Paint Houses, about Teamster union boss Jimmy Hoffa's dealings with the Mafia, specifically hitman Frank Sheeran.
It's a director and cast combination designed to have audiences salivating in the aisles, but the sad news is that a mooted companion piece now doesn't seem to be going ahead. According to De Niro, screenwriter Eric Roth had planned a Fellini-esque "semi-biographical type of Hollywood movie - a director and the actor - based on things Marty and I have experienced and kind of overlapping them."
Now though, De Niro says "I don't know if that'll happen... although I would like it to if we can get it going."
With one hand he giveth, and with the other he taketh away. Do you mourn the potential loss of the Scorsese / De Niro 8 1/2, or are you too excited about The Irishman to care?