Scorsese updates us on The Wolf of Wall Street and Sinatra

Having just finished enchanting movie goers everywhere with his 3D ode to the magic of cinema, Scorsese shows about as much sign of slowing down as the train in Hugo Cabret’s dream.  In a conversation with Entertainment Tonight about his recent partnership with Hennessy Cognac, Scorsese had this to say when asked what his next project would be:

“It looks like it’s time to do The Wolf of Wall Street, with Leo [DiCaprio].” This was reported on back here, but what follows is the new info. “We’re aiming to start later this summer. It’s such an exciting story. Even though it’s set in the early 90s, the attitude is there. The actions are the same. Our values are the same. It’s not like we had solid values until 1998 – the issue is that we were founded on certain values, and tried to maintain them… It’s a riotous story because of the humor and the madness and how these characters just run wild. You have to remember what the real drug is: money. [laughs] Money’s good, it’s just that thing of what you do once you have it all?” 

As for that long-rumored Sinatra biopic?

“I met this writer who I think could do a lot with it, but [we] have to get a hold of the story. It’s too unwieldy. I’d love to tell the whole story, but the idea of art is to figure out where to start because we can’t tell his whole life story. If we told the whole story of Sinatra, it would be 15 hours – then you’ve got something like a miniseries, along the lines of Boardwalk Empire.”  And when asked if a miniseries would indeed be a possibilty, Scorsese replied: “Yes.”

Insofar as who might play Sinatra himself, “Leo’s always talked about doing it,” (and you all seemed to think he should) “but what if the story takes you in a completely different way? We could go for an unknown. Maybe the person who plays him isn’t important. Maybe it’s distracting to have a star in that role. Yet, you can’t have someone else sing! It’s got to be Sinatra’s voice. It’s tricky.”  So who would you cast amongst Hollywood’s rising stars?