Call it a cinephile’s wet dream. Or, perhaps, a nightmarish miscalculation?
Martin Scorsese, while in India promoting the recent theatrical release of Shutter Island, spoke about his long-gestating Sinatra biopic and how he’d like to do it. [The Playlist]
Here’s what the director had to say about his dream project:
“We can’t go through the greatest hits of Sinatra’s life. We tried this already. Just can’t do it. So the other way to go is to have three or four different Sinatras. Younger. Older. Middle-aged. Very old. You cut back and forth in time – and you do it through the music. See what I’m saying? So that’s what we’re trying for. It’s very tricky [laughs].”
And on Pacino and De Niro in the parts:
“I’m yet to spot the actor who can bring back Frank Sinatra alive on screen. My choice is Al Pacino, and Robert De Niro as Dean Martin.”
Pacino as Sinatra? I honestly can’t see it. But then, the thespian’s just played Jack Kervorkian to perfection in Barry Levinson’s You Don’t Know Jack, which most people would never have considered.
De Niro’s gained some weight over the years, and he’d half to lose some of it to play Martin. The crooner was also a tall guy, which De Niro is not. But that can be fixed via “movie magic.”
How Scorsese’s looking to shoot the film is intriguing, like something along the lines of Todd Haynes’ brilliant I’m Not There, only a little more straightforward narratively speaking?
It begs the question: who would play the other aged versions of Sinatra and Martin? DiCaprio, of course, comes to mind.
Between this, Silence, Shutter Island and the upcoming 3D Hugo Cabret, it’s nice to see the legendary director pushing the boundaries of his honed abilities. God knows a Sinatra biopic would be a challenge, even with two of the world’s greatest actors on board.
What do you think of this dream? Could it happen? Should it happen?