Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman will become
his most expensive movie to date. Netflix initially bought the film for $105
million then agreed to a $125 million budget for the mob drama. The film is
based on the book I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt about Frank Sheeran,
a union boss (Robert De Niro) and his alleged part in the 1975 disappearance of
Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino). The $125 million budget went to $140 million but now it
is $175 million and the score hasn’t even been done. The shooting took more than
106 days. A fair amount of the budget was set aside to de-age the actors since
De Niro has to look like he’s 30 early in the film. It also stars Joe Pesci,
Harvey Keitel, Ray Romano and Bobby Cannavale. And even with a budget that large
it isn’t a given the film will be released into theaters at all. Scorsese was
assured that the film would get at least two weeks in the theaters to make it
eligible for awards consideration but things may have changed. |