Martin Scorsese abandons film, will shoot The Wolf of Wall Street on digital this August

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

A filmmaker many believed would never put down the celluloid camera has done exactly that. In an interview with Empire Magazine, Martin Scorsese’s esteemed editor and long-time collaborator Thelma Schoonmaker reveals that Scorsese will not only shoot his next film THE WOLF OF WALL STREET on digital, but that it will likely also mark the start of his full switch to the still controversial format.

Here is Schoonmaker talking to Empire about Marty’s new direction:

“It would appear that we’ve lost the battle. I think Marty just feels it’s unfortunately over, and there’s been no bigger champion of film than him.”

The decision comes at a time when filmmaker Christopher Nolan (THE DARK KNIGHT RISES) has on multiple occasions lambasted the very use of the digital format, more specifically inferring that the decision to go digital has typically not been a creative one but rather a business one that’s come down from producers and the very companies that are creating digital equipment.

“It’s a very bittersweet thing to be watching films with him now that are on film. We’re cherishing every moment of it. The number of prints that are now being made for release has just gone down, and it would appear that the theatres have converted so quickly to digital.”

Schoonmaker, meanwhile, reveals that THE WOLF OF WALL STREET will begin shooting in mid August and describes the film like so:

“It’s about this man in the late ’90s [Leonardo DiCaprio’s Jordan Belfort] who got people to start investing in much cheaper stocks. It was a big scam, and he went to jail. They were out of their minds. Out of their minds! He’s out of jail now, doing motivational speaking. He supposedly feels bad about what he did…”