I have been looking forward to Martin Scorsese’s Silence for a long time.  The film is based off the 1966 novel by Shusaku Endo, which revolves around two 17th-century Jesuit priests who travel to Japan to investigate claims of religious persecution and whether or not their mentor has broken from the church.  Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver are set to play the young priests while Liam Neeson is on board to play their mentor.  The film is exciting not only because of its excellent cast and intriguing premise, but also because it brings Scorsese back to a film about faith.

Scorsese has been trying to adapt Silence for twenty years, and Fábrica de Cine and SharpSword Films have announced that they will produce and provide the financing, which means principal photography will finally begin on January 30th in Taiwain.  As we previously reported, Paramount will distribute the film in the U.S., and is aiming for a November release.

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Here’s the press release:

FÁBRICA DE CINE AND SHARPSWORD FILMS SET TO PRODUCE AND PROVIDE FINANCING FOR MARTIN SCORSESE’S SILENCE

LOS ANGELES, January 22, 2015 - Fábrica de Cine and SharpSword Films are pleased to announce that they have come aboard to produce and provide the financing for Scorsese’s SILENCE. They will be managing the production under a joint entity, FM Films, LLC.  Gastón Pavlovich will produce with executive producers Dale Brown, Matthew Malek and Tyler Zacharia. Martin Scorsese and Emma Tillinger Koskoff will also produce, alongside, Randall Emmett, Irwin Winkler and Barbara DeFina. George Furla and Chad Verdi will executive produce.

SILENCE began pre-production in November, and is scheduled to begin principal photography in Taiwan on January 30, 2015. The Scorsese directed SILENCE, starring Liam Neeson, Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver, is based on the novel of the same name by Shusaku Endo, and follows 17th century Portuguese Jesuits who face intense persecution during their mission to isolated Japan.

“I’ve wanted to make “Silence” for almost two decades, and it is finally a reality.  It is heartening to have adventurous partners like Fabrica and Sharpsword to work with on this picture” noted Martin Scorsese.

SILENCE will be domestically distributed by Paramount with foreign markets distributed by AI Films/IM Global, the film is slated for a 2016 release.

“Fábrica de Cine is pleased to be involved in producing and financing a project of such high caliber, and directed by someone we so greatly respect,” said Gastón Pavlovich, head of Fábrica de Cine.

Fábrica de Cine co-produced and co-financed the Tom Hanks drama, A HOLOGRAM FOR THE KING which wrapped production in May of 2014 and set to also produce OPPENHEIMER STRATEGIES with Richard Gere in February. SharpSword Films is a film production company backed by Dale Brown. It most recently participated in the financing of THE TICKET, starring Dan Stevens, Malin Akerman and Oliver Platt, which wrapped production in August 2014.