Martin Scorsese Set to Direct Frank Sinatra Biopic
Director Martin Scorsese has been handed the reigns of a biopic about legendary singer Frank Sinatra. Universal Pictures and Mandalay Pictures will produce the film; the companies acquired both the life rights and music rights of the Chairman of the Board. “We have dreamt of making a movie about Frank Sinatra, and Marty Scorsese is undeniably the perfect vision keeper for this project,” Mandalay chairman Peter Guber said in a statement.
The Sinatra biopic is one of many high-profile music projects Oscar-winning director Scorsese has tackled in his illustrious career. Scorsese has previously helmed live-music spectacles like the Band’s The Last Waltz and the Rolling Stones’ Shine A Light, as well as the Bob Dylan documentary No Direction Home and a planned 2010 doc about the Beatles’ George Harrison. Scorsese was also originally attached to a Bob Marley documentary but was replaced by Jonathan Demme. Plus, as Peter Travers has pointed out, Scorsese knows a thing or two about soundtracking a film. The script will be written by Phil Alden Robinson, who also served as both screenwriter and director of Field of Dreams and Sneakers.
“My father had great admiration for the talent of the people he chose to work with, and the talented people who worked with my father had great admiration for him,” said Tina Sinatra in a statement. “It is personally pleasing to me that this paradigm continues with Marty Scorsese at the helm of the Sinatra film.” No casting decisions have been announced as yet, but given that Scorsese has collaborated with Leonardo DiCaprio on four consecutive films including the upcoming Shutter Island, it seems conceivable the Titanic star will be the frontrunner for the Sinatra role. No estimated release date has been announced for the film, as Scorsese currently has his hands full with the aforementioned Harrison doc, plus “in development” films like The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (also with DiCaprio, according to IMDB) and Silence.
So what do you think, can the actor who has portrayed Howard Hughes in The Aviator and a master con man in Catch Me If You Can pull off playing the debonair Ol’ Blue Eyes? If not, who would you cast as Sinatra? The conversation continues here: Your Frank Sinatra Shortlist: Leonardo DiCaprio? Chris Pine?
Related Stories:
• Peter Travers Video Special: Martin Scorsese and Music
• Scorsese Unveils Rolling Stones Doc at Berlin Film Fest
• Martin Scorsese to Direct George Harrison Documentary