Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman is finally greenlit; shooting begins this summer

After a couple of years languishing in development and pre-production, news has finally arrived that Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman is finally a go and set to go before the cameras later this year (via IndieWire).

Netflix has bought the rights to the film and has stumped up $100million (possibly the biggest in the company’s history thus far) to allow Scorsese to bring his mob hitman tale to the screen – well, the small screen anyhow.

Based on the 2003 book by Charles Brandt entitled I Heard You Paint Houses, the film will see Scorsese re-team with (deep breath) Robert de Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci and Harvey Keitel, each of whom has worked with the director over his long career. Bobby Cannavale is also set to feature.

Indeed, it will mark the ninth collaboration between Scorsese and de Niro, who last worked together on 1995’s Casino, with the actor playing Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran, a “mob hitman who supposedly was involved in the death of Jimmy Hoffa.”

Shooting could start very soon on the film (possibly this summer) and set for release around the 2019 awards season.