Despite Netflix’s dominance of the streaming world, and their excellent track record in creating acclaimed TV, their movie output has been pretty lacklustre, and that’s being kind. A few Adam Sandler exclusives and some forgettable indies haven’t given their film releases the same kickstart their first original shows gave them. They have tried to rectify that in the best way possible.
Much like how the service went after David Fincher, Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright from the get go to show how legit they were with House Of Cards, they’ve reeled in a big fish yet again, with Netflix now set to be the home of Martin Scorsese‘s next film, The Irishman.
Scorsese’s latest release, Silence, was critically acclaimed but failed to make a splash at the box office. With Paramount undergoing some internal shakeups, Netflix swopped in to pick up the rights for the $100 million film, allowing Scorsese total creative freedom while giving Netflix a huge name to add to their books.
This is a huge coup for Netflix, who now own the worldwide rights to the film despite original deals going to STX Entertainment and Media Asia, which have now been rendered void.
It seems unlikely that they’d release such an epic, prestige picture on their service without at least a limited run in cinemas, but it does presumably give them plenty of wiggle room as to when they can put it online to stream to their millions of subscribers.
The Irishman is a Scorsese passion project, much like Silence was, that has been gestating for years. The film is based on the book I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt, which chronicles the exploits of Frank Sheeran, a high-ranking Teamsters official with ties to the Bufalino crime family. Robert De Niro is set to star, with the film likely aiming for a 2019 release.
#Peace.Love.TheIrishman
