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.

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.

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]

Director Martin Scorsese is currently doing the rounds for his latest effort, the splendidly fantastic Hugo, but many are wondering which project he’ll tackle next. While he had previously stated that he planned on getting to his adaptation of Shusaku Endo’s novel Silence after Hugo, he recently attached himself to an adaptation of The Snowman and a remake of The Gambler, throwing some doubt on whether or not he would actually get to the 17th Century Japan-set pic. Well now the director has confirmed that Silence will indeed be his next film, and said that they’re currently working to pull everything together. Hit the jump for more, including whether or not Daniel Day-Lewis is still set to star.

Uber-producer Scott Rudin has joined the producing team of Martin Scorsese’s in-development Frank Sinatra biopic. Rudin is coming off a strong, if ultimately disappointing, award season as producer of both True Grit and The Social Network. Scorsese has been working on his Sinatra biopic for a while, and plans to ultimately direct the project when it’s ready. Though one would assume that Leonardo DiCaprio would be Scorsese’s top choice to take on the role of the crooner, the director recently dropped quite a few big names of actors he’d like to work with including Johnny Depp, George Clooney and Brad Pitt.

Deadline reports that Phil Alden Robinson (Field of Dreams) originally worked on the script for the flick, but Universal is currently looking for another scribe to take one more crack at it. Hit the jump for more on the project and what’s ahead for Scorsese. [Update: Speaking to MTV, Robert De Niro says that Scorsese will shoot Silence next, then The Irishman with De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino. More after the jump]

Well, that was fast. We recently reported that director Martin Scorsese is attached to direct the stockbroker drama The Wolf of Wall Street with Leonardo DiCaprio set to star, with filming possibly starting as soon as June. It appears the presumption that Wall Street would be Scorsese’s next film was a bit premature. Now it looks like the director’s next project after he wraps his family film Hugo Cabret is the long-gestating drama Silence, about two 17^th century Jesuit priests facing persecution in Japan.

Daniel Day-Lewis, Benicio Del Toro and Gael Garcia Bernal have all previously been set to star in the film, but The Playlist reports that their status with the project ambiguous at the moment. They did, however, confirm that this will be Scorsese’s next film. This is one of those projects that Scorsese has been flirting with for a while, and I’m fairly certain the entire film community would love to see it finally get made, especially with that cast. Hit the jump for more, including a synopsis of the novel.

After paying a hopefully thoroughly terrifying visit to Shutter Island, director Martin Scorsese may next turn his sights to Paris and London to make The Invention of Hugo Cabret, with filming starting in May, according to several European newspapers.

So, what in the world is that about? Well, the historical fiction book by Brian Selznick is about a 12-year-old boy who lives within the walls of a Paris train station in 1931 and maintains the station’s clocks – a job which is supposed to be performed by his uncle, a hopeless drunk. A whole new adventure begins when he discovers an automaton, one of the wind-up, mechanical figures created by film-maker Georges Méliès, and works to bring it to life. Though this is a book designed for children, having read and loved it, I can confirm it’s a wildly entertaining tale for anyone with an active imagination.

But what are the odds this will really happen? Hit the jump to find out what else Scorsese has – or is rumored to have – in the works.