As Martin Scorsese gears up to direct the financial-centered drama The Wolf of Wall Street, another one of his many percolating projects is moving closer to the production stage. Deadline reports that Universal Pictures has tapped Billy Ray (State of Play) to write the screenplay for the biopic Sinatra, which Scorsese has been developing for the quite some time.  Little is known about the film’s plot or what aspects of Sinatra’s life will be depicted onscreen, but the hiring of a writer signals that Scorsese is keen on making Sinatra sooner rather than later.

Hit the jump for more, including a recap of what other projects Scorsese has on his plate.

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]

There may yet be many months between us and a Frank Sinatra biopic directed by Martin Scorsese, but the auteur is slowly compiling an impressive list of actors he would like to work on the picture.  Scorsese already mentioned Johnny Depp, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Tobey Maguire, but dropped this bomb in a recent interview.

“I’m yet to spot the actor who can bring back Frank Sinatra alive on screen.  My choice is Al Pacino, and Robert De Niro as Dean Martin.”

Scorsese has previously expressed interest in hiring different actors to portray the iconic singer at different points in his life (“Younger. Older. Middle-aged. Very old.”), so Pacino and De Niro would presumably play Sinatra and Martin circa the late seventies (i.e. “very old”).  Hit the jump for more comments from Scorsese regarding the “histrionic ability” of Pacino, his admiration for Meryl Streep, and the drawbacks of the James Cameron era of Hollywood.

Not all J.J. Abrams productions can amass the hype of the extraterrestrial Steven Spielberg-produced Super 8 or the spy drama and hopeful savior of NBC Undercovers, but that doesn’t mean they’re not just as intriguing.  The Star Trek director has had an adaptation of Wired magazine article “The Untold Story of the World’s Biggest Diamond Heist” on his production slate for over a year now, but there’s some movement on the project with the hire of Phil Alden Robinson (Field of Dreams) to write the screenplay.

In last year’s reports on the project, it was rumored that Abrams may direct, though there’s no update on said possibility.  After nearly a 20-year hiatus from feature film screenplays, Robinson’s writing career is certainly picking up again: the Oscar-nominee is also working on a Frank Sinatra biopic for Martin Scorsese.  Hit the jump for the skinny on the hyperbolized diamond heist in question.

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.