As Martin Scorsese celebrates his latest epic 'Killers of the Flower Moon' on the award circuit, the director is already teasing what his next film could be, based on Shūsaku Endō's book 'A Life of Jesus'. (Endō also wrote “Silence,” which Scorsese adapted into the 2016 historical drama starring Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver.)
Scorsese revealed in his news Los Angeles Times interview that his next religious film will be set mostly in the present day, but, according to the paper, “Scorsese doesn't want to lock himself into a particular period, because he wants the film to feel timeless.” Additionally, the film is envisioned to be around 80 minutes long, in stark contrast to the 206-minute length of “Flower Moon.” According to the LA Times, the film will focus on “the core teachings of Jesus in a way that probes the principles but doesn't proselytize.”
“I'm trying to find a new way to make it more accessible and take away the negative weight of what has been associated with organized religion,” Scorsese told the publication. “Right now, 'religion,' you say that word and everyone is up in arms because it has failed in so many ways. But that doesn't necessarily mean the initial impulse was wrong. Let's go back. Let's think about it. You can reject it. But it can make a difference in how you live your life — even in rejecting it. Don't dismiss it out of hand. That's all I'm talking about. And I say this as a person who will be 81 in a few days.”
Scorsese has already completed writing the script for Jesus with critic and director Kent Jones, who made his feature debut with the 2018 indie drama “Diane.” According to the LA Times, Scorsese plans to shoot the film later this year.
Meanwhile, the status of Scorsese's other upcoming film, based on David Grann's non-fiction book “The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder” and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, is unknown. This project, from Apple Original Films, was announced in July 2022, but production has yet to begin.
In October, Scorsese indicated on IndieWire that he would be taking a break from working on 'The Wager', saying: 'First of all, the thing is now that the writer's strike is over and because I have so much to get out there and spread the word about 'Killers of the Flower Moon, let me take a break. And we'll work with writers and see if we can put it on the page. And maybe it's something I could co-direct, so to speak. It will be difficult. But there are ways now, with some technical things we could do, to make it bearable. Depending on how we put the script together.”
“Killers of the Flower Moon” was nominated for seven Golden Globes and won one on Sunday, for Lily Gladstone's lead performance as Mollie Kyle.
