Martin Scorsese's movies about Jesus and Sinatra are on hold

Two of Martin Scorsese’s films have been put on hold indefinitely.

Variety reports Scorsese’s The Life of Jesus and his biopic of Frank Sinatra have both been postponed, despite being fairly advanced in the pre-production process.

Our first worry was these delays were down to Scorsese being ill. But there, thankfully, may well be other factors behind these big films getting bumped down the road.

Variety suggests the Sinatra estate may be the reason behind a cancelled November filming date for the Frank Sinatra movie. Without the blessing of the family, it’s unsure whether the film will go ahead.

It is expected to cover the time period in which Sinatra’s affair with Ava Gardner breaks up his marriage to Nancy Barbato, mother to the current head of the Frank Sinatra estate, Tina Sinatra.

What about The Life of Jesus? Scorsese announced his plans for the film in May 2023, following an audience with Pope Francis.

Scorsese reportedly planned to finance the film himself, and it's based on the Shūsaku Endō novel A Life of Jesus. It was published in 1973, and comes from the author behind another of Scorsese’s films, Silence. With the rights and, hopefully, the money in the bag, it's unclear why the film is currently in pre-production limbo.

Martin Scorsese vs retirement

Scorsese shows no other signs of slowing down, though, despite having hit his 81st birthday last November.

“I’m curious about everything still. That’s one of the things,” Scorsese told the Associated Press last year. “If I’m curious about something I think I’ll find a way. If I hold out and hold up, I’ll find a way to try to make something of it on film.”

We had heard, following 2023’s Killers of the Flower Moon, The Wager will be Scorsese’s next flick.

It stars Leonardo DiCaprio and is based on a book by David Grann, who also wrote the source text for Killers of the Flower Moon.

However, we haven’t heard too much about the film since October 2023, when it was suggested he may bring a co-director aboard to deal with the difficulties of shooting on water.

From the list of “upcoming” producer credits he has on IMDb, though, it’s clear Scorsese is still a very busy man.

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