Martin Scorsese is turning 81 next month, he has said that he wants to make “one or two more films”. We’re all pushing for that to happen.
Obviously, given his age, if Scorsese wants to continue mounting the epic productions that he’s been obsessed in undertaking these last 20+ years then he needs all the stamina that he can get.
In an interview with IndieWire’s Anne Thompson, Scorsese clarifies his plans for “The Wager,” his next collaboration with Leonardo DiCaprio. The film is based on a nonfiction book by David Grann, which follows the 1741 mutiny after the shipwreck of the HMS Wager.
Supposedly, there is some doubt as to whether he can handle the big watery production of “The Wager.” Scorsese admits that he needs to take a break after promoting “Killers of the Flower Moon” and that the 2023 writers strike has delayed his next film.
Scorsese is worried about the complexities of shooting on the water, which, according to him, might necessitate a co-director.
First of all, the issue is now that the writer’s strike is over, and because so much is on me to go out there and spread the word about Killers of the Flower Moon, let me take a break. And we’ll get working with writers and see if we get it on the page. And maybe it’s something I could co-direct, so to speak. It’ll be difficult [to shoot a movie out on the water.] But there are ways now, with certain technical things we could do, to make it bearable. Depending on how we get the script together. I’m not sure [if Leo will play Lieutenant Byron or the crazy Captain]. There’s a lot of good parts. [This is less than 100% until I have the script]. That’s the case. That’s normal. Like for example, I don’t think we would have done Killers if we hadn’t made that change.
We don’t want Scorsese to co-direct. He has never done that on any of his features. He’s a solo act and that’s why we love him. However, if having an extra filmmaker by his side would mean his next passion project gets to be made then so be it.
It does look as though DiCaprio will have a role in “The Wager,” but which character he plays remains a major question mark.
Scorsese is a director who is known for his frequent collaborations with stars. There’s his 10-film partnership with De Niro, and he’s also made six films with DiCaprio: “Gangs of New York,” “The Aviator”, “The Departed”, “Shutter Island”, “The Wolf of Wall Street”, and “Killers of the Flower Moon”.