EXCLUSIVE: The hot package in town is a pitch for a Martin Scorsese-directed untitled drama that would star Dwayne Johnson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Emily Blunt.
The thumbnail description: Imagine Robert De Niro’s Jimmy the Gent character from Goodfellas, but as a ruthless Hawaiian crime boss, based on a real figure, who battled encroaching rivals for control of organized crime in Hawaii.
To be written by Nick Bilton, the film focuses on a turbulent time on the island paradise when an aspiring mob boss battled rival crime factions to wrest control of the underworld of the Hawaiian islands. It was a bloody battle, the kind of terrain Scorsese covered in both Goodfellas and The Departed. In 1960s and 70s Hawaii, this formidable and charismatic mob boss rises to build the islands’ most powerful criminal empire, waging a brutal war against mainland corporations and rival syndicates while fighting to preserve his ancestral land. It’s based on the untold true story of a man who fought to preserve his homeland through a ruthless quest for absolute power — igniting the last great American mob saga, where the war for cultural survival takes place in the unlikeliest of places: paradise.
Producers include Scorsese, Johnson, Blunt, DiCaprio, Bilton, Dany Garcia, Lisa Frechette and Rick Yorn.
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This would mean another big collaboration in an historic run for DiCaprio and Scorsese, who just recently worked together on Best Picture nominee Killers of Flower Moon, to go with highlights including The Aviator, The Departed, Gangs of New York, and The Wolf of Wall Street, This also marks a reunion for Blunt and Johnson, who worked together on Jungle Cruise for Disney. It is an especially big opportunity for Johnson, who has roots in Hawaii and long wanted to make a movie there. He has kicked around a movie about King Kamehameha, who in a much different way used his strength and persuasiveness to unite the islands to improve the dealing with the explorers that were finding their way to the island shores.
Johnson is paired with Blunt on the Benny Safdi-directed Smashing Machine for A24, coming later this year. It was Blunt and Johnson who brought the idea to Scorsese and DiCaprio, and they all enlisted Bilton, who’ll start writing when this gets set up.
Even though these principals are engaged in other projects, the town quickly sparked to the pitch, and we hear multiple bids are either on the table or are fast mobilizing. This is poised to be a big one. Stay tuned.
The post Town Says Aloha To A Hawaii-Set ‘Goodfellas’ Meets ‘The Departed:’ Scorsese, DiCaprio, Dwayne Johnson & Emily Blunt Top Crime Drama Package appeared first on Deadline.
