Silence movie: Martin Scorsese's next film 'to be released in time for 2016 Oscars'

Wolf of Wall Street director has wanted to adapt the Japanese novel Silence 'since 1989'

Natasha Culzac
Tuesday 15 July 2014 19:02 BST
Comments
Scorsese's highly anticipated next film, Silence, will get underway later this year
Scorsese's highly anticipated next film, Silence, will get underway later this year (Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Heavyweight Hollywood director Martin Scorsese is one step closer to bringing his long-awaited historical drama Silence to fruition following reports that he is negotiating distribution rights.

Scorsese has reportedly sparked the interest of Paramount, amid tentative plans for the film to be released in November 2015 - perfectly timed for Oscars consideration.

It stars Briton Andrew Garfield of Spiderman fame as the lead, alongside Irish Hollywood regular Liam Neeson, Adam Driver from Girls and Frances Ha and The Last Samurai actor Ken Watanabe.

As Deadline reports, filming is expected to begin in Taiwan later this year.

The movie is an adaptation of Japanese author Shusaku Endo’s 1966 book of the same name – widely considered to be his magnum opus.

It follows the story of a 17-century Portuguese Jesuit priest; a missionary who is tasked with taking Christianity to Japan but who faces wicked religious persecution while there. One of its central themes explores a ‘silent’ God in the face of adversity.

It is a project that Scorsese has been willing to start for more than three decades.

It has been financed by Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films, which also has upcoming films starring Bruce Willis, Vin Diesel and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Corsan Entertainment is also reportedly co-financing, while the script has been written by Gangs of New York writer Jay Cocks.

Last year, Scorsese said that Silence would be a “suspenseful film, with elements of a thriller,” with the personal project requiring a “smaller approach, more internal.”

“The subject matter is very close to my heart,” he told Total Film at Cannes in 2013, where he was understood to be trying to secure funds for the production. “I’ve been working on it since I first read the book in 1989.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in