The recently-released SILENCE was one of Martin Scorsese's passion projects and had been in the works for decades, and it seems that Scorsese's next film will also be the culmination of many years of development. Based upon Charles Brandt’s "I Heard You Paint Houses," THE IRISHMAN will chronicle the career of Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran, a mob hitman who was supposedly involved in the death of Jimmy Hoffa. As exciting as it is to see Martin Scorsese back in the world of organized crime, the talent he's bringing along for the ride is almost embarassingly good: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Harvey Keitel, Bobby Cannavale and Joe Pesci. Damn.
There have been a few bumps on the road to giving THE IRISHMAN the greenlight, but, according to IndieWire, everything seems to be going swell and production is slated to kick off this August. Netflix, who picked up the film earlier this year, is apparently looking to give THE IRISHMAN a 2019 release day-and-date with a limited Oscar-qualifying run. Robert De Niro is set to play Frank Sheeran with Al Pacino on-board to play Jimmy Hoffa. The script has been penned by Steve Zaillian (MONEYBALL) who adapted Brandt's novel.
If you're wondering why the release of THE IRISHMAN is so far off for a film which supposedly begins shooting in just a few months, it's likely because THE IRISHMAN will need to make the most of its post-production schedule if they're to convincingly de-age their lead actors. As the story of Sheeran's life spans many decades and Martin Scorsese doesn't want to resort to unconvincing make-up or hiring a younger actor, it's going to fall to Industrial Light & Magic to make Robert De Niro look as though he's thirty years old. We've certainly come a long way with age-defying digital makeup over the past few years, but ILM will definitely have their work cut out for them. No matter how good THE IRISHMAN winds up being, if we don't buy Robert De Niro with several decades shaved off his face, we're going to have a hard time with the rest of the movie. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for this one.