Scorsese to Make 'Gangs of New York' (from the Hollywood Reporter, August, '99): Warner Bros. has given Martin Scorsese a window to make Disney's Gangs of New York before he shoots Warners Dino. Readers will recall that Scorsese was contractually obligated to direct his next picture for Warners, but wanted to shoot Gangs first. Now he is putting together the budget for Gangs and is also in heavy talks on the project with Leonardo Di Caprio, who is attached to star. Warners turned down a co-production offer from Disney to split rights on Gangs some time back, and Disney is now awaiting a rewrite before it green-lights the film. Gangs, written by Scorsese and frequent collaborator Jay Cocks, is the long-in-development story about Irish mobsters in 1840s New York, which recently grabbed the interest of Robert De Niro as well as Di Caprio (HR 2/4). Dino, adapted by Nick Pileggi and Paul Schrader from 'Dino: Living High in the Dirty Business of Dreams,' teams the Raging Bull filmmaker with Tom Hanks for the first time and tells the life story of legendary crooner and hard liver Dean Martin. Hanks is planning to do Dino after he completes the Robert Zemeckis-directed Castaway. He and Scorsese expect to shoot the picture in the first quarter of 2001, subject to Hanks' schedule.

DEAD RABBITS, NATIVE AMERICANS, AND MARTY

Can’t wait to see Martin Scorsese on Roger Ebert’s show next week. The two of them will be discussing the Best Films of the ‘90s, a topic that, as you know, I’ve written a few words about. Yes, yes… they’re coming. I promise. You can blame Scorsese and his sometimes-collaborator Jay Cocks for distracting me for a good chunk of this past weekend. I ended up burying myself in the latest draft of GANGS OF NEW YORK, the epic story of New York’s underworld as it worked in the mid-1800s.

I’m not sure who Robert De Niro is playing in the film –- Bill the Butcher, Boss Tweed, or even Monk would be the logical guesses -- but it’s obvious from page one who Leonardo Di Caprio is supposed to be. Amsterdam Vallon is a great role for any young actor, and in Di Caprio’s hands, there’s a chance for Amsterdam to be iconic. The film is certainly painted in grand enough terms. Knowing that Disney is spending the money to do this right makes me very excited. The opening of the film is a glorious 15 page set piece that feels like something out of George Miller’s THE ROAD WARRIOR. It’s like science-fiction, otherworldly. When the title finally comes up at the end of the scene and sets the time and place -- “New York City, 1851” -– it seems impossible. Scorsese has discovered this wealth of material, previously untapped on film, about the way the whole pecking order broke down in New York’s underworld. I’ve read quite a bit about this as well, much of it while researching Adam Worth, the loser that Arthur Conan Doyle claims to have based me on. HA! As if I could be a mere copy of some hood like him.

I don’t really want to spoil much of the script this far out. It’s so bizarre, so richly painted, that it’s one of those experiences I believe will overwhelm viewers. Like the wonderful script for FROM HELL that Terry Hayes wrote for the Hughes Brothers, this film paints a real picture of a historical period that we all have a faulty picture of in our heads. It’s amazing how sanitized and proper some people think recent history was. A film like GANGS OF NEW YORK promises to remind them that no matter how far we think we’ve come, the world is the same, and people don’t change.

From the much meleagered David(Poland)from Roughcut.com..

THE GONY SHOW: " Speaking of Leo (you'd think I was sick of the mail by now), Initial Entertainment Group's $65 million purchase of non-domestic rights to Gangs of New York appears to be ready to pay off already. The company, according to Variety, has already secured advances of $16 million for Japan and $13 million from Germany. What is particularly remarkable about this story is that a budget of this size, based on an American studio development project, is being financed this way. There certainly have been films financed this way through indie production companies that are in studio production deals, but this is really a Disney project that has been evolved in-house into an indie. And right now, it looks like a win for everyone, including Mike Ovitz and most importantly, Martin Scorsese, who will have his biggest budget ever to make a dream movie. See? Sometimes the system does work."

The filming will take place in Rome where a replica of New York's Five Points District in the 1800's will be constructed. Production designer Dante Ferretti is rumoured to have already begun work on the set from the Cinecitta Studios. Rumour also has the actual production set to begin in February, 2000. Here is who is "whispered to be in "the cast"...although Leonardo has personally told us in the chats that the only confirmed member of the cast is himself...



And casting news...finally!

Tuesday May 2 1:30 AM ET

Diaz will join Scorsese ``Gangs''

By Charles Lyons and Michael Fleming

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Cameron Diaz is in talks to star opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in ``Gangs of New York,'' the $80 million-plus Martin Scorsese drama set to begin shooting in Rome in August.

Diaz's deal is expected to close quickly, while Scorsese is zeroing on his other leads; Liam Neeson and Pete Postlethwaite (''In the Name of the Father'') are among those being eyed by the director.

``Gangs'' is set in 19th century New York during the peak of Tammany Hall's political corruption. Diaz will play the lead female role of Jenny, a street savvy master thief who becomes entangled both professionally and romantically with DiCaprio's character, Amsterdam, a Gotham gangster who organized street gangs in an effort to control the city's street wars between Italian and Irish immigrants.

``Gangs'' has long been a passion project for Scorsese, who wrote the screenplay with Jay Cocks, his collaborator on ``The Age of Innocence'' Disney's Miramax Films and Touchstone Pictures units are fully financing and producing the film out of their respective U.K. offices.

Reuters/Variety

From The 'Hollywood Reporter', November15th 'Gangs' not all here for De Niro. NEW YORK --

Robert De Niro has dropped out of Martin Scorsese's "Gangs of New York" for personal reasons. Sources close to the actor said he does not wish to venture out of the United States for the shoot.
"Gangs," starring Leonardo DiCaprio, was scheduled for an April start in Rome. Instead, De Niro was finalizing a $15 million deal over the weekend to star in "The Score" for Mandalay Pictures. Slated for a March start in San Francisco, "The Score" is about a thief who is ready to retire but gets pulled back for one last score when he is blackmailed by a younger thief.

From Dark Horizons....

We all know TIME's new cover boy Leonardo DiCaprio has long been tied to this next project for Director Martin Scorsese, but now it seems he ain't the only one set to fire those guns in the tale of Irish gangs in early 1900's New York. According to iFUSE, four very hot babes are up for the female lead role as DiCaprio's love interest in the movie - Heather Graham ("Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me"), Mena Suvari ("American Beauty"), Monica Potter ("Con Air") and Claire Forlani ("Meet Joe Black"). To say the role is in high demand is an understatement with one source saying this role is the equivalent of being "cast as Diane Keaton's part in The Godfather if you knew before hand how big that would be". These four aren't the only ones in contention, so are hundreds of unknowns with agencies like ICM passing out copies to various young women in their portfolio. The role is also a lot more than a 'just a girlfriend' kind of part and in fact not only does she force Leo to commit various actions vital to the plot, but turns into an ice-cold gang lady toward the end. Each of those four actresses are currently hard at work on various projects and have others in the pipeline so it's too early to tell which one is a lead favorite.


Daniel Day Lewis joins the cast of Gangs!


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