Martin Scorsese is eyeing Silence to be his next film and is rounding up an impressive cast. Daniel Day-Lewis, Benicio Del Toro and Gael Garcia Bernal (Babel) are all in talks to star. Scorsese and Day-Lewis previously collaborated on Gangs of New York and The Age of Innocence. Silence, which Scorsese has been developing for more than a decade, is set in the 17th century as two Jesuit priests face violence and persecution when they travel to Japan to locate their mentor and to spread the gospel of Christianity. It is based on the Shusaku Endo novel. Jay Cocks, who also worked with Scorsese on Gangs and Innocence, wrote the screenplay.

Principal photography is scheduled to start in April for the Martin Scorsese-directed "Silence."

When it was announced last month that Martin Scorsese's long-developing dream project "Silence" was finally getting made, with a shoot next year in the works, we tempered our excitement. We had heard this before, more than once, and for a variety of reasons, the movie never happened. But today comes some great news, as not only is it moving forward, but the film has found it's first actor.

Andrew Garfield and Ken Watanabe are now on board the film, with Variety sitting down the with the filmmaker who also reveals that "Silence" will be a Japaense-language film. An adaptation of Shusaku Endo's novel, the story will follow two 17th century Jesuit priests who face violence and persecution when they travel to Japan to locate their mentor and to spread the gospel of Christianity. Garfield will be playing the Portuguese Father Rodrigues, who goes to Japan to follow up on rumors that his mentor has abandoned the church, with Watanabe as his translator. Obviously, this will be a smaller scale, niche effort than the director's past works, but it could also be somewhat of a genre flick, if viewed from a particular angle.

“Then again, it’s a thriller. Thriller meaning they are undercover,” he said. “I’m interested in this, whether it’s undercover priests or undercover cops.” Location scouting is underway, Robbie Robertson may reunite with the filmmaker to score the movie, Issei Ogata is also on board, and filming is aiming for July 2014.

While many will point to the once rumored cast of Daniel Day-Lewis, Benicio Del Toro and Gael Garcia Bernal, this is still a pretty solid round up of actors, and before Garfield was swinging through Manhattan, he earned attention for his turns in fare like "Boy A" and the "Red Riding" trilogy, so we're excited to see what he'll do here. And Watanabe has already proven his bonafides in pictures with Clint Eastwood, Christopher Nolan, Rob Marshall and more.

And for the one commenter who always drops in every time to remind us about the 1971 Japanese film version of "Silence," directed by Masahiro Shinoda -- nope, Scorsese hasn't seen it.

EXCLUSIVE: Liam Neeson will star with Andrew Garfield and Ken Watanabe in Silence, the Martin Scorsese-directed adaptation of Shusaku Endo’s novel about 17th century Jesuits who to try bring Christianity to isolated Japan. The film is being financed by Emmett/Furla/Oasis, Corsan and A1. Emmett/Furla/Oasis just funded Lone Survivor. The script is by Jay Cocks and Scorsese and production will begin in Taiwan later this year.

Neeson is scheduled to reprise in Taken 3, but while Neeson has remade himself as an action star, Silence brings him back to the kind of work he did in Schindler’s List and in the Scorsese-directed Gangs Of New York. The film is produced by Irwin Winkler, Randall Emmett and George Furla, Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Checchi Gori, Barbara DeFina and Paul Breuls, with Niels Juul exec producing. Neeson, who next stars in the action film Non-Stop, voices a role in The Lego Movie, and stars in the Seth MacFarlane-directed A Million Ways To Die In The West and A Walk Among The Tombstones, is repped by CAA.

This should be something, given that Scorsese has dreamed of making the picture for two decades. His The Wolf Of Wall Street is up for five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director.

BREAKING: In a move that caps a two-decade quest for Martin Scorsese, funding is now locked for his adaptation of the Shusaku Endo novel Silence. Fábrica de Cine and SharpSword Films have joined the producing roster and will fully finance the picture that will star Liam Neeson, Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver and Tadanobu Asano. The film, which follows 17th century Portuguese Jesuits who face intense persecution during their mission to spread their faith in isolated Japan, will begin production January 30 in Taiwan.

Fábrica de Cine and SharpSword were part of the consortium of investors when Emmett/Furla/Oasis got the film up and running again two Cannes festivals ago. Fábrica de Cine and SharpSword upped their stake to fund the entire movie, and they will now manage the production under a joint entity, FM Films, LLC. Gastón Pavlovich will produce with executive producers Dale Brown, Matthew Malek and Tyler Zacharia. Scorsese and Emma Tillinger Koskoff will also produce alongside Randall Emmett, Irwin Winkler and Barbara DeFina. George Furla and Chad Verdi will executive produce.

The main takeaway here is that Scorsese now has full backing for his follow-up to the Oscar-nominated hit The Wolf Of Wall Street, in his longest-gestating project since Gangs Of New York. Said Scorsese: “I’ve wanted to make Silence for almost two decades, and it is finally a reality. It is heartening to have adventurous partners like Fabrica and SharpSword to work with on this picture.” Paramount will release domestically in 2016 with foreign markets distribution spearheaded by AI Films/IM Global.


“Fábrica de Cine is pleased to be involved in producing and financing a project of such high caliber, and directed by someone we so greatly respect,” said Pavlovich, head of Fábrica de Cine. Fábrica de Cine co-produced and co-financed the Tom Hanks drama A Hologram For The King, which wrapped last May, and the company is producing the Richard Gere-starrer Oppenheimer Strategies, which shoots next month.

Liam Neeson dropped by the Los Cabos Film Festival Saturday to share his excitement over Martin Scorsese’s long-in-the-works historical drama “Silence,” which is finally nearing the finish line.

“Martin requires a lot of commitment,” Neeson said at the Las Ventanas Hotel press conference, explaining that he dropped 20 pounds off his already-lean frame to play a Jesuit missionary, while co-star Adam Driver became extremely gaunt and Garfield is already “a piece of wire.”

Scorsese “gives 200%,” said Neeson. “All he requires is that you give 100%.” “He’s intimidating,” Neeson explained. “He requires absolute silence on the set — if he hears one tiny sound, it shatters it for him.”

It was a physically demanding shoot for co-stars Andrew Garfield and Driver, and a big departure from roles like “Spider-Man” and “Star Wars.”

Neeson said the production started off shakily — literally — when Taipei was hit by a 6.1 earthquake and his 15th floor hotel room began to sway. “It was terrifying. The world started to shake.” He walked all the way to the ground floor and realized that the frequent temblors in the region barely affect the residents.

His only response to a journalist who asked about the connection to the Paris attacks and “Silence” was “We are all in shock.” But Neeson said the project resonated for him because of his Irish Catholic upbringing, and that the central question of the film is, “Is there a god?”

Mexico’s Fabrica de Cine, headed by Gaston Pavlovich, is a production partner on Scorsese’s passion project, based on the Shusaku Endo novel, which the director is currently editing. Scorsese sent a video message in which he explained that the team was finally able to bring the film to the screen because, “Gaston understood what I was trying to do and my commitment to it.”

Neeson feels “it’s Marty’s true legacy,” says Pavlovich, “He is so proud.”

Pavlovich said that while a Cannes premiere would be ideal, they won’t rush it if Scorsese isn’t satisfied. Paramount is expected to release the film in the U.S. in late 2016.

Pavlovich, who has produced several smaller U.S. indies since opening a Los Angeles office for his Mexican production company, says “Silence” has been the highlight of his professional career.

“It’s fantastic to work with a genius,” he says, “But it’s all about preparation.” When Pavlovich went to talk to Scorsese in his New York apartment, the 23-year old project was suffering under the weight of at least one lawsuit and several delays. “I knew this was my risk. It had to be done quickly or we would lose the cast,” he said. But Scorsese and his producing partner Emma Tillinger Koskoff “respected that we were producing and were willing to compromise,” says Pavlovich.

After even higher budgets had been considered, the production came in around $51 million — not huge for a period piece shot on 35mm film on location with a director of Scorsese’s caliber, but still substantial for an independently-produced film.

“It’s hard, it’s emotional — I think it will inspire a lot of debate,” Pavlovich says of “Silence.”

Scorsese recruited some of his frequent collaborators including cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, editor Thelma Schoonmaker and production designer Dante Ferretti, who constructed a facsimile of a 17th century Nagasaki monastery at the Taiwan location.

Endo’s 1966 novel tells the story of young Jesuit missionaries in the 17th century who were persecuted during their trip to Japan. They go in search of Neeson, a priest who has reportedly forsaken his faith.

Fabrica Cine is ramping up its international productions and opening a European office as well as L.A., with its first documentary “Sea of Cortez” announced Wednesday at Los Cabos. Directed by Paul Taublieb, the adventure sports film will shoot in Mexico in 2016.

The shingle is first and foremost a “story-oriented company,” says Pavlovich, considering projects in any language. “The world’s our stage,” he says.”