Following a long, long development process that has spanned decades, director Martin Scorsese is finally gearing up to make his passion project, Silence, and he’s nabbed an incredibly talented young actor to lead the film. The Amazing Spider-Man and The Social Network star Andrew Garfield has been tapped to lead Scorsese’s adaptation of the Shusaku Endo novel of the same name, which centers on two 17th-century Jesuit priests who travel to Japan to investigate claims of religious persecution.  Earlier iterations of the project had Daniel Day-Lewis, Benicio Del Toro, and Gael Garcia Bernal rumored to be handling the lead roles, but it appears that Scorsese has opted to go a bit younger for the role of Father Rodrigues.

Hit the jump for more, including the casting of Ken Watanabe and Issei Ogata in the film. 

Director Martin Scorsese’s passion project Silence is finally moving forward.  Back in January, Scorsese confirmed that the adaptation of the Shusaku Endo novel would be his next project after completing The Wolf of Wall Street, and he was hoping to start production in mid-2014.  Now, after numerous delays, Deadline reports that financing for Silence has been secured by Emmett/Furla Films, which means that this thing is actually, finally, for real happening.  Written by Scorsese and Jay Cocks, the story takes place in the 17th century and follows a group of missionaries sent to Japan in order to investigate the reported torturing of Christians by the country’s emperor.

Scorsese has been trying to get Silence made for 15 years, and at one point Danie Day-Lewis and Benicio del Toro were attached to star.  The plan now is for filming to begin in Taiwan in July 2014, depending on the cast.  I’d really love to see Silence make it in front of cameras, so hopefully things go smoothly this time.  The Wolf of Wall Street opens later this year, but Scorsese will likely be busy with an awards campaign for the Leonardo DiCaprio starrer through early 2014.

A few weeks back, we alerted you to an upcoming show being assembled by our friends at the Spoke Art Gallery.  The Spoke Art guys generally operate out of San Francisco, but this Friday they’re taking a field trip to New York’s Bold Hype Gallery to unleash a Martin Scorsese-themed gallery show that looks to be quite the homerun.  Wanna see some preview images from the show and find out what you’ll get if you’re one of the first 100 people in line?  Meet me after the jump, folks!

Director Martin Scorsese’s historical drama Gangs of New York is getting the TV treatment.  The 2002 film, which chronicled the gang prevalence in 19th century New York, was the culmination of over twenty years of development, as an adaptation of Herbert Asbury’s 1928 book The Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the Underworld had been a passion project for the filmmaker for years.

The massive three-year production of the film wasn’t exactly a smooth ride, with Scorsese battling for artistic freedom while encountering production delays, budget overruns, and the ire of Harvey Weinstein.  Even so, the finished product is an entertaining piece of period filmmaking that boasts a wonderfully devilish performance from Daniel Day-Lewis and some truly breathtaking production design.  Hit the jump for more on the prospect of a Gangs of New York TV show.

Universal has made some changes to its upcoming release slate, and Martin Scorsese‘s new film now has a firm date.

• Kick-Ass 2 – The Jeff Wadlow-helmed sequel has been pushed back a couple of months from June 28th to August 16th, where the actioner will now face off against the sequel Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters and the comedy The To-Do List.  The film stars Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Jim Carrey.
• 2 Guns – Meanwhile, as a result of the Kick-Ass 2 date change, the Denzel Washington/Mark Wahlberg action thriller has been moved up from August 16th to August 2nd, where it will open against the sequels 300: Rise of an Empire and Red 2.
• R.I.P.D. – Universal has also announced that it will be releasing the Jeff Bridges/Ryan Reynolds action-adventure film in 3D when it opens on July 19th.  This will be a post-conversion.
• The Wolf of Wall Street – Finally, director Martin Scorsese’s memoir adaptation will open wide on November 15th, just in time for Thanksgiving and awards season.  The Leonardo DiCaprio-starrer will square off against Ridley Scott‘s The Counselor, the Robert De Niro/Sylvester Stallone boxing drama Grudge Match, and the WikiLeaks film The Fifth Estate.

Director Martin Scorsese has only just begun to dive into post-production on his financial drama The Wolf of Wall Street, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, but he’s already looking ahead to his next project.  The filmmaker has been developing an adaptation of Shusaku Endo’s novel Silence for 15 years, and is now adamant that the 17th century Jesuit priest drama will be his next film.  Of course Scorsese said the same thing after wrapping Hugo, only to make Wolf of Wall Street his follow-up project instead (much to the chagrin of his investors).

Scorsese is apparently auditioning actors and looking to finally begin production on Silence in mid-2014, after the release (and presumably awards campaign) of Wolf of Wall Street this fall.  Silence isn’t the only project that Scorsese is actively developing to direct, though, and there was recently some forward movement on the mob drama The Irishman.  Hit the jump for more details.

At the age of 70, filmmaker Martin Scorsese is showing no signs of slowing down any time soon.  He’s currently winding down principal photography on The Wolf of Wall Street with Leonardo DiCaprio, and after signing on to produce a documentary about Roger Ebert, he’s now adding yet another doc to his upcoming slate.  Per The New York Times, Scorsese will direct and produce a documentary about former President Bill Clinton for HBO.  The project has Clinton’s full cooperation, and our 42nd President released the following statement:

“I am pleased that legendary director Martin Scorsese and HBO have agreed to do this film. I look forward to sharing my perspective on my years as President, and my work in the years since, with HBO’s audience.”

Scorsese’s most recent documentaries have taken place within the music world, with George Harrison: Living in the Material World and the Rolling Stones doc Shine a Light, but I’m eager to see him delve into the political scene.  It’ll be fascinating to get a look at Clinton’s life through the eye of such a talented filmmaker, and I look forward to seeing what Scorsese puts together.  No title or premiere date has been announced just yet.

Paramount Pictures is looking to stay in the Martin Scorsese business, as the studio behind Shutter Island and Hugo has picked up the director’s latest film, The Wolf of Wall Street, for domestic distribution.  Based on the memoir of Jordan Belfort, the pic stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a hard partying, drug addicted stockbroker who was indicted in 1998 for security fraud and money laundering and served a 22-month federal prison stretch.  The fantastic supporting cast includes Jonah Hill, Kyle Chandler, Matthew McConaughey, Jean Dujardin, Margot Robbie, Joe Bernthal, and Rob Reiner.

Given the film’s pedigree, it’s no surprise that Deadline reports Paramount is planning a fourth-quarter 2013 release date.  That puts Wolf of Wall Street in prime awards season placement, so the film should be a significant player in the 2013 Oscar race.

A first look at Jonah Hill’s character in director Martin Scorsese’s financial drama The Wolf of Wall Street has landed online courtesy of some set photos. Hill plays the close friend and business partner of Jordan Beflort (Leonardo DiCaprio), a hard partying, drug addicted stockbroker who was indicted in 1998 for security fraud and money laundering and served a 22-month federal prison stretch.  We’ve already seen a few set photos of DiCaprio in character, and these images of Hill reinforce the idea that Scorsese is going to great lengths to make the actors look like their real-life counterparts.  Hill appears to be wearing some Gary Busey-esque false teeth along with his wonderfully 90s attire, complete with large glasses and a yellow sweater tied around his shoulders.

Hit the jump to take a look at the Hill images along with a new look at DiCaprio and Matthew McConaughey.  The film also stars Kyle Chandler, Margot Robbie, Jean Dujardin, Joe Bernthal and Rob Reiner.

If you need further proof that Roger Ebert is one of the greatest film critics of all time, consider the fact that he’s writing some of the best and most thoughtful essays and reviews at age 70, over forty years after he began his career as a professional film critic.  His 2011 memoir Life Itself is a fascinating read, and now a trio of filmmaking giants has optioned the book for a documentary.  Ebert broke the news himself on Twitter:

“Whoa! My memoir has been optioned for a doc by Steve James (“Hoop Dreams”) and Steven Zaillian, with Martin Scorsese as exec producer.”

So that’s Steve James, director of one of the best documentaries of all time (Hoop Dreams), Oscar-winning screenwriter Steven Zaillian (Schindler’s List, Moneyball), and Mr. Martin Scorsese.  Hit the jump for more, including a reaction from Ebert and the synopsis for his memoir.

New images from the respective sets of Martin Scorsese‘s The Wolf of Wall Street and Joshua Michael Stern‘s (Swing Vote) jOBS have found their way online. The Wolf images give us our first look at Leonardo DiCaprio in his turn as Jordan Belfort, a former financial rock star of sorts whose own memoir of the same name is the basis for the film. While we’ve already seen pics of Ashton Kutcher doing his best Steve Jobs impersonation while wearing a turtleneck and on LSD, today’s images give us a better idea of how well he can pull of the “button-up, cardigan, sweater vest” look.

Check out the images after the jump. The Wolf of Wall Street is aiming for a 2013 release and also stars Matthew McConaughey, Jon Favreau, and Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead). jOBS co-stars Dermot Mulroney, Josh Gad, Matthew Modine, Ahna O’Reilly, and Lukas Haas while also staring down an unspecified 2013 release.

This past week presented me with a couple of unique moviegoing opportunities. In addition to the ParaNorman showing I previewed the last time we met, I was also able to check out one of my all-time favorites, Jaws, on the big screen thanks to Cinemark’s “Fall Classic Series”. For as much as I enjoyed the pic long before this week’s showing, I have to say that viewing it as an audience member in a packed theater for the first time opened my eyes to a whole new appreciation. Not only was I genuinely startled in a few scenes that repeat television and DVD viewings had long left me numb to, but I also came to respect Robert Shaw’s timeless turn as Quint even more than I previously had. In short, my adoration for Spielberg‘s masterpiece was not only reaffirmed, it somehow found a way to expand.

But enough about my love of all things Jaws related. This week’s Top 5 includes the news that James Gunn is in talks to direct Marvel’s intergalactic tale, Guardians of the Galaxy, Sight & Sound’s personal Top 10 lists from some of cinema’s most revered directors (Spoiler Alert: that shark movie I drooled about in the opening paragraph appears on Tarantino‘s), a new red-band trailer for John Hillcoat‘s Lawless, Disney’s plans to reboot The Rocketeer, and an animated look at how The Dark Knight Rises should have ended. A brief recap and link to each can be found after the jump.

Earlier this month, a new “official” best film of all time was announced with the unveiling of the results of Sight & Sound’s most recent poll.  Every ten years, the film magazine polls a number of critics, academics, and professionals and then tallies up the results for an ultimate list.  The magazine also has a poll of directors for a second Top 10 list, and now they’ve unveiled the individual directors’ lists in an effort to occupy all the free time you have today.

After the jump you can peruse personal Top 10 lists from the likes of Edgar Wright, Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Guillermo del Toro, Woody Allen, David O’Russell, Sam Mendes, Matthew Vaughn, Francis Ford Coppola, Marc Webb and more.  Hit the jump to take a look.

Martin Scorsese has wanted to adapt Shusaku Endo‘s novel Silence for fifteen years.  He planned to make the film after 1997′s Kundun, but has continued to push Silence to the backburner to make other projects.  For those unfamiliar with the novel, it follows group of missionaries in 1683 sent to Japan in order to investigate the reported torturing of Christians by the country’s emperor.  It’s been a story with a personal bent for Scorsese since he planned to become a Jesuit priest before he went on to be a filmmaker.  Having read the novel in college, I’ve been excited to see Scorsese take on the material, but my disappointment doesn’t come close to the frustration of production company Cecchi Gori Pictures, which is now suing the director over the repeated delays.

Hit the jump for more. [Update: Scorsese has released a statement responding to the lawsuit]

Though he’s currently gearing up to direct the comedy sequel The Hangover Part III in September, director Todd Phillips is planning on trying his hand at a straight drama in the near future.  THR reports that Phillips is in talks to direct the crime drama The Gambler, a remake of the 1974 film of the same name starring James Caan.  The Paramount project previously had Martin Scorsese attached to direct with Leonardo DiCaprio circling the starring role, but it now appears that Scorsese has left the remake.  Hit the jump for more details.