A chorus of cinephiles enthusiastically screaming “Fuck YES” in note-perfect unison could be heard around the world on Thursday, when word got out that Martin Scorsese might be directing a mega-star studded film set in Hawaii.
According to Deadline’s Mike Fleming Jr. and Justin Kroll, Nick Bilton is writing the screenplay about a Hawaiian crime boss from the ’60s and ’70s “based on a real figure.” The character gives off major vibes from two Scorsese hits – the De Niro and Liotta masterpiece Goodfellas and the Best Picture winner The Departed.
The Rock and Emily Blunt, who are teaming up for Benny Safdie’s wrestling biopic The Smashing Machine, originally brought the idea to Leonardo DiCaprio and Scorsese. All three stars – Johnson, Blunt, DiCaprio – are expected to join the cast. Bilton brings some serious writing cred as a Vanity Fair special correspondent and author of American Kingpin and Hatching Twitter.
We’ve hit up Johnson, DiCaprio, Blunt, and Scorsese’s teams for more details. Stay tuned for any updates to this story.
The Rock’s got strong ties to Hawaii – he once shared how “surreal” it felt going back to his old high school while shooting a YouTube vid for Young Rock. While this Scorsese project would be his first time working with DiCaprio, he and Blunt are already movie buddies, having done Jungle Cruise in 2021 and The Smashing Machine dropping this year.
This would be the first Scorsese rodeo for both The Rock and Blunt, but Leo’s an old pro with the legendary director – they just wrapped their latest together, 2023’s Killers of the Flower Moon.
It’s only a matter of time before someone snatches up this project, given the A-list talent involved.
