Martin Scorsese's "Silence" earned $7 million worldwide. Yeah, a scant amount for the venerable director of such classics as "Goodfellas," "Raging Bull," "Taxi Driver," "Mean Streets" and "The King of Comedy."
If you think the tepid reception has made Scorsese rethink his whole cinematic agenda, then you better think again. Scorsese's longtime editor extraordinaire Thelma Schoonmaker has revealed that Scorsese very much wants to continue tackling religious-based films in the future.
“…he wants to make more films like this, that are spiritual, basically, but not set in 17th century Japan [laugh]. In the modern time. So hopefully we’ll be able to make that. Not the next one, the next one is ‘The Irishman,’ which is De Niro and Joe Pesci and elderly gangsters. So that’ll be very different from ‘Silence.’ But maybe the one after that!” she told Crave.
Wait, did she just say Joe Pesci? De Niro has been saying that he's been insistent in getting the retired Pesci to star in "The Irishman," calling him relentlessly to join the cast, but that actor hasn't budged yet, so has he finally joined the project? Crave doesn't ask her, but one can assume Pesci will be part of the project.
As for "Silence" and the mixed reviews it got, Schoonmaker has this interesting quote:
“…it’s daring and it’s difficult to make a movie like this because maybe people don’t understand, and don’t go see it because of that. They worry. ‘Oh dear, what is this? Am I going to be lectured?’ They don’t understand that [‘Silence’] is not like that. It was a real serious challenge. I wish it had done better. I think the movie will last and be very important to people. Which is all one can ask. So many fantastic movies, so many fantastic reactions from people. But if you’re going out with your family on Saturday night, you’re not going to go to this movie [laugh],” she said.
“The reviews were… I’ve never read reviews like this. They’re just ecstatic sometimes, which is fantastic. All kinds of people, which is all you can hope for with this,” Schoonmaker added.