- The filming of two high-profile films to be directed by Martin Scorsese have been postponed
- No reason has been given for the postponing filming on the movies
- Scorsese is still busy with executive production work on a TV series
Two high profile films set to be directed by legendary director Martin Scorsese this year have been postponed.
Epic movies
Scorsese had been set to film biblical epic The Life of Jesus and a biopic of legendary crooner Frank Sinatra back-to-back this year, but both projects have been postponed, according to Variety, which broke the story.
The Life of Jesus had been set to be the first to go into production. The film is to be based on the 1973 novel by Shusaku Endo. The film is reportedly still in development, however.
It is anticipated that the film would explore Christ’s human and divine aspects, in a similar way to The Last Temptation of Christ, which Scorsese directed back in
Meanwhile the as-yet-untitled biopic of Sinatra had a start date of November, but this is no longer the case. Stakeholders in the production were notified of the delay in mid-August, Variety reported, and as yet no date for the start of production has been set. Leonardo Di Caprio had reportedly been in talks to take on the role of Sinatra, although nothing has been confirmed.
Scorsese has been working on a Sinatra biopic since 2009. A potential problem with any movie about the singer, who had a notoriously complex personal life, is getting approval from the Sinatra estate. Sinatra’s daughter, Tina, control’s the estate and considering the film would focus on a period that involved the end of Frank’s marriage to Nancy Barbato, Tina’s mother, getting approval could be tricky.
Remaining busy
However, Scorsese remains busy. The 81-year-old is set to executive produce a TV series for Apple TV+ based on the 1962 and 1991 movies Cape Fear. Scorsese directed the latter movie. He will be working with Steven Spielberg on the project.
