Netflix Won't Say if Martin Scorsese's THE IRISHMAN Will Be Released In Theaters

Martin Scorsese is currently shooting The Irishman in and around New York but it still isn't completely clear if the iconic filmmaker's movie will even make it to the big screen.

Scorsese is believed to have asked Netflix that the film get a theatrical run in 2019. Variety reports that sources familiar with the negotiations say Netflix’s film division chief, has told Scorsese that the film will have a minimum two-week theatrical window. That would at least qualify it for Oscar contention.

But Netflix head of film publicity Julie Fontaine recently told the news outlet that “it’s premature to say anything at this point.” 

But even if Scorsese's film goes to theaters it will likely go out on the same day it is available to stream on Netflix, something the streaming giant usually does. 

Production of the pic, whose All-star cast includes Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Harvey Keitel, Anna Paquin, Ray Romano and an out-from-retirement Joe Pesci, has faced several complications. For starters the film has been in development since 2008, then it was pulled out of turnaround at Paramount last year by Mexican producer Pavlovich. 

Paramount withdrew when it became clear that the visual effects necessary to make De Niro’s character look 30 years younger in flashback scenes would push the film’s budget far past the initial $100 million estimate. 

“We quickly realized that that Marty and De Niro really thought that the aging process was going to be a very important aspect of this film,” Pavlovich said. “The traditional [business] model was not going to work with this new vision of the project, and that’s when we entered conversations with Netflix.”

The Irishman is targeting a 2019 release.