Maybe this is the in-between film? From Film ick...
arnzilla- 06-19-2007
Frankie rears his head again. Finke's website, deadlinehollywooddaily.com, has this:
While recently promo-ing his The Good Shepherd, Robert De Niro said he had one particular desire over all: to do two more movies with Martin Scorsese and make it an even 10 they did together. I can report that No. 9 is underway. De Niro has long had lined up The Winter of Frankie Machine, based on the book about a retired hit man, and now I'm told that Scorsese is set to direct it for Paramount under his deal there. I understand the pic's name has been shortened to just Frankie Machine. There's no announcement yet, but I've heard this from a good source. Crime writer Don Winslow wrote the book after growing up with the children of his neighborhood Mafia bosses, so he understood the criminal mind behind the hit man who's hounded out of a respectable retirement as the target of a hit himself. Despite his own history of brutality, the protagonist is actually quite likable -- which explains why the manuscript was snapped up by De Niro even before it was published. Back in March, Variety reported that already Ocean's Thirteen screenwriters Brian Koppelman and David Levien were writing the screenplay for De Niro. Bobby has talked before how he and Marty have started some projects over the years only to get distracted, and how they were both "anxiously waiting" to come up with something. For the record, here are their 8 pics together: Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, New York New York, Raging Bull, The King Of Comedy, Goodfellas, Cape Fear, and Casino. I hear Scorsese will get started right after his Rolling Stones project. Another mob movie: what could be better?
But Pacino said on Larry King last week that he'll be co-starring in the fall with De Niro as two cops. I'll see if I can contact Koppelman who used to occasionally post on IMDb.
will- 06-19-2007
The Pacino film will probably start around August-September. De Niro could be done with it by November.
Hope you hear good things from Koppelman.
arnzilla- 06-19-2007
I can't find any of his posts. His screen name was "kop" something or something "kop" but the Rounders board doesn't go back any further than 2007. Maybe I'll drop Don Winslow a line. He posted the first chapter here and this is his site's description of the book:
People are products of their past, and trying to reinvent yourself from the influences of any profession during the years of retirement is always problematic. When your first career was a hit man for the mob, the past can be more than simply an influence on your present, it could be a termination of your future.
Frank Machianno, aka Frankie Machine, retires from his life as a contract killer and begins a new life in San Diego. Far removed from any of the thrills of his mob life, he opens a bait shack on Ocean Beach Pier, runs three other legit businesses, and when nothing else demands his attention, puts his board in the water and rides the waves. Not a bad life for the 62-year-old Vietnam vet; at least most of the time it is quiet.
Frankie’s life however returns to the tension, suspense and terror of the ‘old-days’ when the head of the Los Angeles syndicate calls in a marker, and asks him for backup during a meeting with members of the Detroit mob. The meeting is suppose to be an effort to resolve the current disputes between the two groups, but turns out to be a setup to end Frankie’s life.
Now, rather than sitting on the shoreline thinking about his past, Frankie is thrown back into that world, and forced to follow a trail of bodies, to search out which of his past crimes has surfaced from the tide to end him.
This LA times article says the film is on hold:
FOR all the hurried decision-making going, some are playing it safe on prestige projects. Paramount's mob drama "The Winter of Frankie Machine" seemed to have a perfect alignment of players: Martin Scorsese directing DiCaprio and Robert De Niro. But the script wasn't quite right, so rather than rush, the studio decided to put the movie on hold.
Did I miss something? When was it announced/rumored that Leo will be in it?
arnzilla- 08-23-2007
Maybe the rewrite is about tailoring Jimmy the Kid for Leo. There's been plenty of Leo talk on the IMDb message board, but nothing legitimate.