“Don't expect to see that again”: At 81, this legendary director gives up on $200 million films! – Cinema News
Is Martin Scorsese, 81, done with big-budget films? The Oscar-winning filmmaker for “The Departed” has made it clear that he will focus on more intimate projects in the future.
After The Irishman and Killers of the Flower Moon, which cost $160 million and $200 million respectively, is Martin Scorsese done with big-budget frescoes? The legendary filmmaker discussed the issue at an event in New York, reveals Felipe Henriquez of World of Reel.
The end of blockbusters made by Scorsese?
Presenting the documentary Made in England, which focuses on directors Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, Scorsese was very clear about his upcoming projects. “Don't expect to see this again”he said, speaking of large-scale feature films.
The filmmaker who gave us Taxi Driver, Goodfellas and Raging Bull no longer wants to direct “big-budget works with many extras.” This calls into question the pharaonic project The Wager, a new adaptation of a book by David Grann, author of Killers of the Flower Moon. If Scorsese gives up on blockbusters, this feature film supposed to be carried by DiCaprio would no longer be relevant or will surely be offered to another filmmaker.
On the other hand, with a view to returning to more intimate works, Martin Scorsese will soon direct a new film on the life of Christ: Life of Jesus. Last May, during a visit to Rome, Martin Scorsese met Pope Francis and expressed his wish to sign a film on Jesus, more than 35 years after The Last Temptation of Christ.
Jesus is coming back
“I responded to the Pope's call for artists in the only way I know how: by imagining and writing a script for a film about Jesus,” the director revealed. At a press conference at the Vatican, Scorsese added that he was “about to start directing.” this project.
It will be an adaptation of the book written by Shūsaku Endō: A Life of Jesus. Scorsese had already brought to the screen a work by the Japanese author in 2016 with Silence. After the 3h29 of The Irishman and the 3h26 of Killers of the Flower Moon, the director had created a surprise by announcing that his new project would last only 80 minutes, or 1h20.
If this length is confirmed, it will be a record for Scorsese: until now, his shortest film is his first, Who's that knocking at my door, made in 1967 (1h30). “I'm trying to find new ways to make Christianity more accessible and to detach it from all the negativity that is associated with it because of the Church.”he explained.
“Right now you say the word 'religion' and everybody gets up in arms because it has disappointed in so many ways. But that doesn't mean the initial impulse was wrong. Think about it. You can reject religion but it can change the way you live, even in rejecting it.”he concluded.
The plot of the feature film promises to be surprising because it will evoke the life of Jesus but will be set in our time. Scorsese has completed the screenplay, written in collaboration with critic and filmmaker Kent Jones. He plans to shoot it later this year with Andrew Garfield possibly in the lead role.
Moreover, the one nicknamed Marty also mentioned his wish to bring the novel to the screen Home (At our place in VF)written by Marilynne Robinson. This will probably be her next project after Life of Jesus.