Contrary to a recent rumor, Uber and Robert De Niro are not collaborating on an ad featuring the actor’s Taxi Driver character, Travis Bickle. Last week, The Sun published a report saying De Niro would team up with the ride-share company to revive one of his most iconic roles for a significant payout. The announcement garnered some skepticism from fans of Martin Scorsese’s 1976 classic, with many confused by the arrangement from the jump. After catching wind of the story, Taxi Driver screenwriter Paul Schrader responded on Facebook by saying, “Ouch. Why Bob would do this is beyond my reckoning.” Schrader, clearly disturbed by the news, added, “But I haven’t seen it. If I’m lucky I never will.”
Today, Uber confirmed that De Niro will star in an Uber U.K. ad campaign later this year. However, the promos do not feature the award-winning actor’s legendary character. “We are filming with Robert De Niro in London for a new Uber UK campaign, which will launch later in the year,” the company said in a statement. De Niro spokesman Stan Rosenfield said the actor is not reviving Bickle for the ad, nor is not using the cabbie character’s famous line: “You talkin’ to me?'”
Robert De Niro will next be seen starring alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese’s highly anticipated Killers of the Flower Moon. “At the turn of the 20th century, oil brought a fortune to the Osage Nation, who became some of the richest people in the world overnight,” reads the official synopsis. “The wealth of these Native Americans immediately attracted white interlopers, who manipulated, extorted, and stole as much Osage money as they could before resorting to murder. Based on a true story and told through the improbable romance of Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone), ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ is an epic western crime saga, where real love crosses paths with unspeakable betrayal.”
Are you relieved after hearing De Niro’s Uber ads do not feature Taxi Driver‘s Travis Bickle? Did you believe the rumor until today? How would Uber spin the character’s inclusion into something positive for the company? Your guess is as good as mine.