However, two sources with direct knowledge of director Martin Scorsese's production told iFUSE Friday (Sept. 1) that the film's start day continues to be delayed because the screenplay has still not been approved by either Disney or its autonomous subsidiary, Miramax Films, which are funding the movie.

Also, the studios' top brass continue to hold back the extra couple of million dollars the production says it needs to make the film, saying that if Scorsese and company want the extra money, it will have to come out of DiCaprio's salary, the sources said.

At this point, both Harvey Weinstein, chief of Miramax, and Disney executives have said that DiCaprio's part, as an up-and-coming Irish gangster, is too unsympathetic and unlikeable, and that the part needs to be re-written.

Scorsese and company are not putting up a fight with the executives, and they have hired Steve Zaillian ("Schindler's List", "Searching for Bobby Fischer") to re-write the script as requested, according to the sources. Zaillian is continuing to work on it as the "Gangs of New York" company lingers in Rome.

As for the money issue, the film has been greenlit at $83 million, but Scorsese and Co. want $87 million. Disney is saying no way to the bump, because it's already uncomfortable with spending so much money on a film with a very violent script that seems inaccessible to a mass audience, the sources said.

DiCaprio, who is passionate about the project and is serving in a role not unlike producer (though he is not credited as such) is among those begging for the extra cash so Scorsese can create his aesthetic vision.

So top executives at both Disney and Miramax have explained that if Leo so wants the extra cash, it's going to have to come out of his $20 million fee.

DiCaprio, our sources said, is not interested in cutting his fee.

All this has come after a drawn-out wait for "Gangs of New York" to start shooting. The movie has undergone numerous script re-writes and casting issues. It's even switched studio ownership.

At one point, Robert De Niro was a near-certainty to play a lead role, but since the project moves to France after its Rome shoot, De Niro refused to take part. He has sworn never to return to France ever since authorities there detained him after his name appeared in the black book of a high-priced prostitute in Paris.

The production is shooting in Europe despite its New York locale because it's easier to create the look of turn-of-the-century Manhattan, when the story takes place in European cities than it is in the real place. The filmmakers have built lavish sets both in public areas of Rome and on soundstages, yet they haven't been used yet.