Venerable filmmaker Martin Scorsese has locked in his next project at Apple, and he’s bringing along one of his favorite muses, Leonardo DiCaprio. Theirs has been an extremely successful partnership that will potentially run through the foreseeable future for our collective pleasure and entertainment. The pair’s first collaboration with Apple Original Films, Killers of the Flower Moon, released in 2023, was a critical darling, earning a whopping 10 Academy Award nominations. The film marked Scorsese and DiCaprio’s first film in about a decade, following The Wolf of Wall Street, but it seems they’re intent on not leaving that much gap again before their next project.
Since the release of KOTFM, Scorsese has been scouting for the next projects to sink his teeth into and the Gilead novels by Marilynne Robinson have reportedly been in consideration for some time. Scorsese has now come closer to fulfilling his desire to bring the Gilead novels to life as a report via Publishers Weekly states that the Academy Award winner has signed to adapt Home, the second book in the four-part novel series. Scorsese will write, direct and produce the adaptation along with Academy Award-nominated filmmaker, Todd Fields, who is also attached to produce. It isn’t clear if Scorsese will be adapting the entire book in the series, perhaps that will be dependent on the reception for the first one.
The Gilead series began with Marilynne Robinson’s 2004 novel Gilead, which follows aging clergyman John Ames as he chronicles his life in the quiet, titular town in Iowa for his young son. The book won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award, laying the foundation for a celebrated literary series. It was followed by Home (2008), Lila (2014), and Jack (2020), each offering a fresh perspective on the original story, much like biblical retellings that illuminate different facets of the same narrative. The premise for Home reads:

“The Reverend Boughton’s hell-raising son, Jack, has come home after twenty years away. Artful and devious in his youth, now an alcoholic carrying two decades’ worth of secrets, he is perpetually at odds with his traditionalist father, though he remains his most beloved child. As Jack tries to make peace with his father, he begins to forge an intense bond with his sister Glory, herself returning home with a broken heart and turbulent past.”

What Else Is Martin Scorsese Working On?

Image via Apple Original Films

The Gilead adaptation joins Scorsese’s ever-expanding slate of upcoming projects. Previously, he was reportedly developing a Frank Sinatra biopic with DiCaprio attached to star, along with an adaptation of A Life of Jesus, based on Shūsaku Endō’s book. However, both projects appear to have stalled, with little news since their initial announcements. More recently, Scorsese was said to be working on a Hawaiian crime epic featuring DiCaprio, Dwayne Johnson, and Emily Blunt. Meanwhile, The Devil in the White City, a long-gestating adaptation plagued by production delays, recently received a promising update, suggesting progress is finally being made. It’s not clear which of these will take precedence on Scorsese’s list but after KOTFM, anticipation is high for what will mark Scorsese and DiCaprio’s seventh feature. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates and check out KOTFM available to stream on AppleTV+.

Source: Publishers Weekly