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.