10 Unmade Martin Scorsese Movies That Could Have Become Classics

Martin Scorsese made many classic movies during his career, but his unrealized projects show a glimpse of what could have been. Scorsese’s Sinatra biopic and his movie about Jesus’ life have reportedly stalled. Previously, he had planned to shoot them back-to-back, but that plan seems to have hit a stumbling block. Although this news comes as a disappointment, Scorsese fans will know that he has faced many such difficulties throughout his career.

With a list of credits that includes Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, The Wolf of Wall Street And many more iconic movies, Scorsese should have no regrets about his career. However, some of the projects that didn’t quite pan out over the years are excruciating, simply because they sound like they could potentially have been instant classics. Scorsese has tried and failed to make biopics, historical epics and adaptations of popular novels.

10

Do Androids dream of electric sheep?

Scorsese was interested in Philip K. Dick’s novel before Ridley Scott

A year after Philip K. Dick published his critically acclaimed sci-fi novel Do Androids dream of electric sheep?, Martin Scorsese approached the author about the prospect of making a movie adaptation. The script was set to be written by one of Scorsese’s frequent collaborators, Jay Cocks, who would later write Gangs of New York And The Last Temptation of Christ, among others.

Scorsese and Cox never optioned the rights to Dick’s novel in the end. While Scorses’ take on it would have been interesting to see, it was eventually adapted by Ridley Scott in Blade RunnerSo it might have all worked out for the best anyway. Blade Runner remains one of Ridley Scott’s best movies, and it had a huge impact on the entire sci-fi genre.

9

Mike Tyson biopic

Jamie Foxx was set to star as the heavyweight champion

Martin Sources Raging Bull is one of the greatest boxing movies of all time, and its story is based on real life. Scorsese eyed another blockbuster boxing biopic at one point, but his Mike Tyson movie never materialized. Jamie Foxx announced in 2015 that he was set to star in the project with Scorses. The project was eventually changed, and years later it was announced that it had become a television series directed by Antoine Fuqua.

News of the project has dried up since 2021, so it now seems as if the TV series may also be canceled. It’s a shame, because Mike Tyson’s life story could make a fascinating biopic. Tyson’s career was one of the most famous boxers who lived in the life of his scandalous life outside the ring. He’s a larger-than-life character with a checkered past, and Scorsese might have been just the man to peel back his many layers.

8

Notes from underground

Scorsese was inspired by Dostoevsky

Martin Scorsese was interested in adapting some of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novels in the 1970s, and the one he seemed to like most was. Notes from underground. The deeply philosophical novel is presented from a first-person perspective, as the narrator mixes stories from his daily life with his thoughts on society, theology and the human condition.

Notes from underground It doesn’t exactly look like a novel that lends itself to the big screenAnd there have been no movie or TV adaptations so far. It would have been an incredibly ambitious project for Scorsese to tackle. Eventually, he abandoned the idea once he started working on it taxi driver, As he thought the psychological thriller shared some of Dostoevsky’s themes.

7

Amedeo Modigliani biopic

Al Pacino and Martin Scorsese wanted to team up decades before the Irishman

In the late 1970s, Al Pacino became interested in making a movie about the tragic life of 20th century Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani. He soon got Martin Scorsese on board, but the duo couldn’t find a studio willing to back them. Unfortunately, it took decades for Al Pacino and Martin Scorsese to work together on a movie in 2019’s crime drama. The Irish.

Modigliani’s paintings and sculptures hold an important place in art history, and his personal life was just as interesting. Modigliani was the absolute archetype of the starving artist, and the only solo exhibition of his life was shut down by the police within hours of opening. He developed his positive reputation only after his happy death. Although Pacino never got the chance to play Modigliani himself, he recently appeared in a biopic directed by Johnny Depp. Modi, three days on the wings of madness Premiere in September 2024.

6

Theodora & Justinian

Scorsese wanted to make a historical epic after Goodfellas

After the critical and financial success of good, Martin Scorsese decided his next project would be a movie about the founding of the Byzantine Empire.Focusing on Emperor Justinian’s relationship with his wife, Theodora. Scorsese has made several historical movies in his career, such as Killers of the Flower Moon And quiet, But be Justinian History promises a much grander scale. He hired novelist Gore Vidal to write the script, but the project was repeatedly delayed.

Justinian met Theodora while he was next in line for the throne, and she was just a lowly actor. While he sought to expand his empire, she became one of his closest advisers, and she was not afraid to wield power for her own purposes. A movie about the couple could have shown Justinian’s many military conquests and the intense spectacle of the chariot races in Constantinople. Vidal said in 1994 that he and Scorsese were waiting for technology to advance to meet their ambitions, so that they could “Show battle scenes without Ben-Hur prizes.”

5

Dean Martin biopic

Before his Sinatra movie, Scorsese set his sights on a different singer

Frank Sinatra is not the only American crooner that Martin Scorsese was interested in. Back in 1992, Scorsese bought the rights to Nick Tosches’ biography of Martin, titled DinoWith the intention of turning it into a movie. He recruited Goodfellas writer Nick Pileggi, and he had his eyes on Tom Hanks to star as Martin, but the movie stalled. Scorsese announced that the project had died in 2004.

Dean Martin first rose to fame as part of his on-screen double act with Jerry Lewis, before becoming a member of the Rat Pack alongside Sinatra and others. Martin’s acrimonious split from Lewis would provide plenty of material for a biopic, as would his infamous misadventures with the Rat Pack or his tumultuous personal life. It is no surprise to see that Scorsese is drawn to this era of American entertainers.

4

Taxi Driver sequel

Scorsese doesn’t usually do sequels

Taxi driver is one of Martin Scorsese’s best movies, and he nearly followed it up with a sequel decades later. Scorsese only directed one sequel in his careerBut 1986s The color of money Hardly feels like a sequel to 1961’s The hustler. Be Taxi driver Sequel would have been a big surprise, so he must have found an idea for it that excited him. Robert De Niro was just as interested.

Scorsese first mentioned the sequel in 2005, almost 30 years after the original. The Nero announced eight years later that Taxi driver Screenwriter Paul Schrader submitted a draft of the script, but that both he and Scorsese felt it needed more work. Unfortunately, this was the last update to come out about the project, so it seems unlikely that Scorsese’s fans will ever know what his plan was for. Taxi Driver 2.

3

Furious love

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor’s relationship could inspire a movie some day

Reports emerged in 2011 that Paramount Pictures was in negotiations with Martin Sorceress to direct an adaptation of dear anger, A book by Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger about the tumultuous relationship between Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. The deal probably fell through because the reports soon dried up. Burton and Taylor’s story seems destined to become a movie or TV series one dayBut it seems the project has been passed by Scorses.

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor were one of Hollywood’s most illustrious power couples during the 1960s and 1970s, but they were just as famous for their highly publicized relationship troubles. Burton and Taylor divorced in 1974 before remarrying a year later. Their second and last divorce came in 1976. The fiery relationship that the two actors portrayed in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is often compared to their real-life dynamic, though this may just be a convenient allegory.

2

The Devil in the White City

Leonardo DiCaprio wanted to make a movie about America’s first serial killer

Leonardo DiCaprio purchased the rights to Erik Larson The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America in 2010. Larson’s book is partly written in the style of a novel, but it is a non-fiction book about the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 and the infamous “Murder Castle” by HH Holmes. In 2015, Martin Scorsese agreed to direct the film adaptation, with DiCaprio set to star as Holmes.

HH Holmes is often called “America’s First Serial Killer.” To capitalize on the increased tourism in Chicago due to the World’s Fair, he constructed his elaborate Murder Castle, a three-story building made with secret passages, trap doors, and other modifications that made it the ideal hunting ground for an assassin who knew the Spelling. Scorsese and DiCaprio’s movie eventually morphed into a TV series starring Keanu Reeves, but that too hit some roadblocks. Despite the setbacks, there is still a chance that The Devil in the White City May happen in one way or another.

1

Little Shop of Horrors

Martin Sorcese wanted to turn the off-Broadway hit into a movie

New York, New York is Martin Scorsese’s only musicalBut he was always a fan of the genre. While New York, New York Is a drama with some musical elements, Scorsese almost got the opportunity to direct a full-blown musical. A year later Little Shop of Horrors became an Off-Broadway hit, Scorsese was approached to direct a film adaptation, with Steven Spielberg potentially acting as producer.

Scores Little Shop of Horrors Would have been a spectacular 3-D musical, but the project ran into legal trouble when the writer of the original 1960 movie filed a lawsuit. A few short years later, director Frank Oz got the chance to make his own version without any legal impediments. Just like the stage musical, the movie adaptation of Little Shop of Horrors became an instant cult sensation, even if it wasn’t shot in 3-D.