10 Unmade Martin Scorsese Movies That Could Have Become Classics

Martin Scorsese has made loads of basic motion pictures all through his profession, however his unrealized tasks present a glimpse of what may have been. Scorsese’s Sinatra biopic and his film about Jesus’ life have reportedly stalled. Previously, he had been planning on taking pictures them back-to-back, however this plan appears to have hit a stumbling block. While this information comes as a disappointment, Scorsese’s followers will know that he has had many such difficulties all through his profession.

With an inventory of credit that features Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, The Wolf of Wall Street and lots of extra iconic motion pictures, Scorsese shouldn’t have any regrets about his profession. However, among the tasks that did not fairly pan out through the years are excruciating, just because they sound like they might doubtlessly have been instantaneous classics. Scorsese has tried and didn’t make biopics, historic epics, and diversifications of widespread novels.

10 Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?

Scorsese Was Interested In Philip Okay. Dick’s Novel Before Ridley Scott

A 12 months after Philip Okay. Dick revealed his critically-acclaimed sci-fi novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Martin Scorsese approached the writer in regards to the prospect of constructing a film adaptation. The script was set to be written by one in all Scorsese’s frequent collaborators, Jay Cocks, who would later write Gangs of New York and The Last Temptation of Christ, amongst others.

Scorsese and Cocks by no means optioned the rights to Dick’s novel in the long run. While Scorsese’s tackle it could have been attention-grabbing to see, it was finally tailored by Ridley Scott into Blade Runner, so it could have all labored out for the very best anyway. Blade Runner stays one in all Ridley Scott’s greatest motion pictures, and it has had a huge effect on the complete sci-fi style.

9 Mike Tyson Biopic

Jamie Foxx Looked Set To Star As The Heavyweight Champion

Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull is among the best boxing motion pictures of all time, and its story relies on actual life. Scorsese regarded set for one more blockbuster boxing biopic at one level, however his Mike Tyson film by no means materialized. Jamie Foxx introduced in 2015 that he was set to star within the undertaking with Scorsese. This undertaking was finally modified, and years later it was introduced that it had develop into a TV collection directed by Antoine Fuqua.

News of the undertaking has dried up since 2021, so it now appears as if the TV collection may also be canceled. This is a disgrace, as a result of Mike Tyson’s life story may make an enchanting biopic. One of essentially the most well-known boxers to ever dwell, Tyson’s profession was coloured by his scandalous life exterior the ring. He’s a larger-than-life character with a checkered previous, and Scorsese may have been simply the person to peel again his many layers.

8 Notes From Underground

Scorsese Was Inspired By Dostoevsky

Martin Scorsese turned fascinated by adapting a number of of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novels in the course of the Nineteen Seventies, and the one which he appeared significantly eager on was Notes from Underground. The deeply philosophical novella is introduced from a first-person perspective, because the narrator mixes tales from his each day life together with his ideas on society, theology and the human situation.

Notes from Underground would not instantly appear to be a novel which lends itself to the massive display screen, and there have been no film or TV diversifications up to now. It would have been an extremely bold undertaking for Scorsese to deal with. Eventually, he deserted the concept as soon as he began engaged on Taxi Driver, as he thought that the psychological thriller shared a few of Dostoevsky’s themes.

7 Amedeo Modigliani Biopic

Al Pacino And Martin Scorsese Wanted To Team Up Decades Before The Irishman

In the late Nineteen Seventies, Al Pacino turned fascinated by making a film in regards to the tragic lifetime of twentieth century Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani. He quickly received Martin Scorsese on board, however the duo could not discover a studio that was keen to again them. Unfortunately, it took a long time for Al Pacino and Martin Scorsese to lastly work collectively on a film, in 2019’s crime drama The Irishman.

Modigliani’s work and sculptures maintain an vital place in artwork historical past, and his private life was simply as attention-grabbing. Modigliani was absolutely the archetype of the ravenous artist, and the one solo exhibition of his lifetime was shut down by the police inside hours of opening. He solely developed his optimistic fame after his untimely dying. Although Pacino by no means received the possibility to play Modigliani himself, he just lately appeared in a biopic directed by Johnny Depp. Modi, Three Days on the Wings of Madness premiered in September 2024.

6 Theodora & Justinian

Scorsese Wanted To Make A Historical Epic After Goodfellas

After the vital and monetary success of Goodfellas, Martin Scorsese determined that his subsequent undertaking could be a film in regards to the founding of the Byzantine Empire, specializing in Emperor Justinian’s relationship together with his spouse, Theodora. Scorsese has made a number of historic motion pictures in his profession, comparable to Killers of the Flower Moon and Silence, however his Justinian story promised a a lot grander scale. He employed novelist Gore Vidal to jot down the script, however the undertaking was repeatedly delayed.

Justinian met Theodora whereas he was subsequent in line for the throne, and he or she was only a lowly actor. While he sought to increase his empire, she turned one in all his closest advisors, and he or she wasn’t afraid to wield energy for her personal targets both. A film in regards to the couple may have proven Justinian’s many navy conquests and the extraordinary spectacle of the chariot races in Constantinople. Vidal acknowledged in 1994 that he and Scorsese had been ready for know-how to advance to fulfill their ambitions, in order that they might “show battle scenes without Ben-Hur prices.”

5 Dean Martin Biopic

Before His Sinatra Movie, Scorsese Set His Sights On A Different Singer

Frank Sinatra is not the one American crooner who Martin Scorsese has been fascinated by. Back in 1992, Scorsese purchased the rights to Nick Tosches’ biography about Martin, titled Dino, with the intention of turning it right into a film. He recruited Goodfellas author Nick Pileggi, and he had his eyes on Tom Hanks to star as Martin, however the film stalled. Scorsese introduced that the undertaking was useless in 2004.

Dean Martin first shot to fame as a part of his on-screen double act with Jerry Lewis, earlier than changing into a member of the Rat Pack alongside Sinatra and others. Martin’s acrimonious cut up from Lewis would supply loads of materials for a biopic, as would his notorious misadventures with the Rat Pack or his tumultuous private life. It’s no shock to see that Scorsese is drawn to this period of American entertainers.

4 Taxi Driver Sequel

Scorsese Doesn’t Usually Do Sequels

Taxi Driver is one in all Martin Scorsese’s greatest motion pictures, and he practically adopted it up with a sequel a long time later. Scorsese has solely ever directed one sequel in his profession, however 1986’s The Color of Money barely seems like a sequel to 1961’s The Hustler. His Taxi Driver sequel would have been a giant shock, so he will need to have discovered an thought for it that excited him. Robert De Niro was simply as .

Scorsese first talked about the sequel in 2005, virtually 30 years after the unique. De Niro introduced eight years later that Taxi Driver screenwriter Paul Schrader had delivered a draft of the script, however that each he and Scorsese felt that it wanted some extra work. Unfortunately, this was the final replace that got here out in regards to the undertaking, so it appears unlikely that Scorsese’s followers will ever know what his plan was for Taxi Driver 2.

3 Furious Love

Richard Burton And Elizabeth Taylor’s Relationship Could Inspire A Movie Some Day

Reports emerged in 2011 that Paramount Pictures was negotiating with Martin Scorsese to direct an adaptation of Furious Love, a e-book by Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger in regards to the tumultuous relationship between Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. Presumably, the deal fell by means of, as a result of reviews quickly dried up. Burton and Taylor’s story appears destined to develop into a film or TV collection in the future, but it surely appears as if this undertaking has handed Scorsese by.

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor had been one in all Hollywood’s most illustrious energy {couples} in the course of the Nineteen Sixties and Nineteen Seventies, however they had been simply as well-known for his or her extremely publicized relationship troubles. Burton and Taylor divorced in 1974 earlier than remarrying a 12 months later. Their second and closing divorce got here in 1976. The fiery relationship that the 2 actors portrayed in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? has typically been in comparison with their real-life dynamic, though this might simply be a handy allegory.

2 The Devil In The White City

Leonardo DiCaprio Wanted To Make A Movie About America’s First Serial Killer

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Leonardo DiCaprio bought the rights to Erik Larson’s The Devil within the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness on the Fair That Changed America in 2010. Larson’s e-book is partially written within the model of a novel, but it surely’s a non-fiction e-book in regards to the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 and the notorious “Murder Castle” of H. H. Holmes. By 2015, Martin Scorsese had agreed to direct the film adaptation, with DiCaprio set to star as Holmes.

H. H. Holmes is usually referred to as “America’s first serial killer.” To capitalize on the elevated tourism in Chicago because of the World’s Fair, he constructed his elaborate Murder Castle, a three-story constructing made with secret passageways, lure doorways and different modifications that made it the best searching floor for a killer who knew the format. Scorsese and DiCaprio’s film finally morphed right into a TV collection starring Keanu Reeves, however this additionally hit a number of roadblocks. Despite the setbacks, there’s nonetheless an opportunity that The Devil within the White City may occur in a method or one other.

1 Little Shop Of Horrors

Martin Scorsese Wanted To Turn The Off-Broadway Hit Into A Movie

New York, New York is Martin Scorsese’s solely musical, however he has all the time been a fan of the style. While New York, New York is a drama with some musical components, Scorsese virtually received the possibility to direct a full-blown musical. A 12 months after Little Shop of Horrors turned an Off-Broadway hit, Scorsese was approached to direct a film adaptation, with Steven Spielberg doubtlessly appearing as producer.

Scorsese’s Little Shop of Horrors would have been a spectacular 3-D musical, however the undertaking bumped into authorized hassle when the author of the unique 1960 film filed a lawsuit. A number of quick years later, director Frank Oz received the possibility to make his personal model with none authorized impediments. Just just like the stage musical, the film adaptation of Little Shop of Horrors turned an instantaneous cult sensation, even when it wasn’t shot in 3-D.