Martin Scorsese‘s rock ‘n roll bonafides have never been in doubt. From his longtime association with The Rolling Stones (he’s used their music in countless films and also directed the concert doc "Shine A Light") to helming the legendary "The Last Waltz," as well as the Bob Dylan pic "No Direction Home," the filmmaker is an ardent music lover. Even the energy of his films seems electric; "The Wolf Of Wall Street" is a fast moving opus of excess that’s almost like one long, blistering guitar solo. And now, Scorsese may channel the punk spirit of that movie into a music biopic.
According to Billboard, Scorsese is attached to direct a feature film about New York City’s punk rock icons, The Ramones. This is all part of a brewing revival of the band, which will includes a book, a theatrical play, fashion tie-ins and much more, because merchandising and branding is hella punk. (It’s also worth mentioning that all the original members are now dead.) There’s little else known about the movie, and we suspect that’s because it’s still in the very early days. And not only that, Scorsese is quite busy at the moment.
The filmmaker is currently occupied with his ’70s set HBO rock ‘n roll drama, has his "Shutter Island"-inspired series "Ashecliffe" also brewing at the network, along with "Silence" next in his movie pipeline. This isn’t the first music biopic Scorsese has flirted with either, for years he’s been planning "Sinatra," with very little in the way of movement. So don’t get too excited just yet.
That said, it’s easy to see why Scorsese would be attracted to the project — The Ramones came of age in an era in New York City that the director is obviously familiar with, so this would be an interesting chance to explore that milieu from a new perspective. But will he have already scratched that itch with his aforementioned HBO series? Guess we’ll find out.