Martin Scorsese Talks ‘The Irishman,’ Says “Nobody Would Give Us The Money”

With all the “Is Marvel cinema?” talk, no one has bothered to ask Martin Scorsese if he’s okay. The 76-year-old director is finally about to unleash his latest crime epic “The Irishman,” on Netflix, after spending 10 years trying to convince people to give him money to make the film.

While talking to Entertainment Weekly, Scorsese opened up about the difficulties he had trying to find backers to fund his film for a decade, especially because of the pricey CGI used to de-age actors. “People just weren’t interested in financing it—and that was before the CGI,” Scorsese told EW. “Nobody would give us the money. But I really felt that De Niro and I had one more picture to make, at least, and he was really connected with the character.”

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Come on. You have Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci even coming back from retirement to appear in a film directed by Martin Scorsese, yet the man not only struggles to get it made, but he also keeps getting involved in an online war with superhero movies? Is that the most pressing question we have about “The Irishman”? Thankfully, no matter what Steven Spielberg thinks of the streaming service, Netflix was the one to step up and rescue “The Irishman” back in 2017. They not only backrolled the film’s estimated $159 million budget, but are giving it a limited theatrical release before it drops on the streaming platform. According to Scorsese, it was thanks to Netflix that they could bring Pesci into the picture. “Prior to that, it was almost like putting on a show in the barn.”

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The result has been praised as a “masterpiece” and one of Scorsese’s best films, following premieres at the New York Film Festival and BFI London Film Festival. Though some may feel like “The Irishman” is a bittersweet achievement for Scorsese, and an unofficial conclusion to his mafia saga, Robert De Niro isn’t quite ready to hang up his fedora hat. When asked by EW if he would do more crime movies, the actor said, “I’m open to it. There are great stories out there. Who knows? Never say never.” Meanwhile, Scorsese teased more crime stories, “I hope to explore a little more, if I have time.”

“The Irishman” is having a limited theatrical release starting November 1, before being released on Netflix on November 27.