Photos taken from the set of The Irishman has given us our first look at director Martin Scorsese’s return to gangster film territory.
The highly anticipated film reunites the legendary director with many of his long-time collaborators including Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci and Harvey Keitel.
They became known as being one of cinema’s greatest teams through their appearances together in Scorsese’s Goodfellas, Casino and Raging Bull.
Al Pacino also joins the cast in his debut Scorsese film.
Cameras are currently rolling on the streets of New York where Scorsese, Pesci and De Niro were spotted filming scenes.
Based on a book by Charles Brandt, The Irishman tells the true story of real-life hitman Frank Sheeran (De Niro) who claimed he was involved in the disappearance of Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa which is still an unsolved mystery today.
The Irishman will see De Niro and Pesci reunite with Scorsese for the first time in 22 years having last starred in his brilliant film Casino.
Pesci has been retired since 2010 but has decided to act again for his long-time pal.
Although these set photos don’t tell us much, the costumes and cars indicate these scenes are set in either the 1960’s or 1970’s.
Despite the incredible hype surrounding the project, big studios shied away from the film because Scorsese intends to use de-ageing CGI in order to tell the decades-spanning story.
This of course dramatically increased the film’s budget and ultimately Netflix stepped in and agreed to produce splashing out £82 million on the project.
De Niro has even said if it wasn’t for Netflix, The Irishman wouldn’t have got made at all.
Set to be released in 2019, The Irishman is expected to be Netflix’s first bid at an Oscar.
