The Irishman: De-aging De Niro likely to induce Godfather 2 nostalgia

The Irishman – a long-awaited Scorsese project that has been surfacing on and off in Hollywood for the past 25 years as per art and culture website Highsnobiety – may finally see the light of day in 2018, with a digitally de-aged Robert De Niro.

Martin Scorsese – the auteur boasting more than half a century of expertise in film and media space – seemingly desires joining forces with the holy triad of mob movies actors: De Niro, Al Pacino, and according to rumours, Joe Pesci.

The director has decided to add a pinch of nostalgia in The Irishman, indicating that De Niro will look like he did “in The Godfather 2 days, that's pretty much how you're going to see him again,” online entertainment news outlet CinemaBlend reported from an exclusive interview. The technology to be used is the same featured in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

This much talked-about film is centered on notorious World War 2 veteran and mobster-hit man Frank Sheeran, who was possibly linked to the Jimmy Hoffa and President Kennedy murders, and succumbed to cancer in 2003. Charles Brandt’s I Heard You Paint Houses is the inspiration behind The Irishman’s screenplay, which is inked out by Steve Zaillian.

Sheeran was a desensitized high-level union official in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, but led a multifaceted life of organized crime, Mafia-commanded murders, and shiver-inducing intimidation, most of which he carried out under the guise of a worn-out truck driver popping in to use the loo. His unwavering loyalty was only to himself.

Producer Gastón Pavlovich noted that the de-aging procedure is still being pondered on, and didn’t confirm if it has received the green signal yet. Nonetheless, in an interview while promoting The Intern, De Niro hinted on the opportunity of being portrayed decades younger than his actual age, Empire mentioned.

Moreover, according to De Niro, he will not dominate the de-aging technique, which was recently evidenced in Rogue One and Westworld. Therefore, it is likely to see the legendary actor at various stages of life tallying with Sheeran’s account, as Pavlovich commented, “We saw it come down to when [De Niro] was like 20, 40, 60.”

Scorsese is still midway through his cup of success garnered from the first trailer of religion-oriented 17th century project Silence. He has augmented his interest in true-life stories of criminals, with a Leonardo DiCaprio-studded project based on Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City already underway.

With Pulp Fiction’s Harvey Keitel allegedly starring as well, coupled with the fact that 75-year-old Scorsese is on his directorial zenith, The Irishman has a truckload of expectations tied to it. Nevertheless, it’s still going to be a while before we get to witness this promising beauty.