After months of speculation, Robert De Niro has confirmed the principal players for what can only be considered a dream line-up for Scorsese fans. De Niro will be joined by Al Pacino, Joe Pesci and Harvey Keitel in The Irishman, with Steve Zaillian (Schindler’s List, American Gangster) penning the script based on the novel “I Heard You Paint Houses.”
De Niro spilled the beans to Showbiz 411’s Roger Friedman at a Little Fockers party last night. Scorsese is currently finishing up Hugo Cabret, but there’s a chance The Irishman will be his next project.
De Niro will star as mob hitman Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran, who is reputed to have carried out more than 25 murders. It’s currently unknown who the other actors will play. While Keitel and Pesci have frequently turned up in Scorsese films throughout the years, it fascinates me that it has taken this long for Pacino to work with the director.
There’s no word on how this will effect Scorsese’s proposed Sinatra and Silence, the priest drama with Benicio Del Toro, Daniel Day-Lewis and Gael Garcia Bernal attached, but in light of today’s news I don’t think I’m alone in saying “who really cares?”
