Scorsese, De Niro to 'Paint Houses' (VAR)

By Nancy Tartaglione-Vialatte

Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro are returning to organized crime. Paramount Pictures has set Steve Zaillian to adapt “I Heard You Paint Houses,” a book about the mob assassin who is believed to have been involved in the death of Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa. Variety reports that Scorsese is attached to direct De Niro as Frank "the Irishman" Sheeran, who is reputed to have carried out more than 25 mob murders.

The film will be produced by Scorsese and Tribeca partners De Niro and Jane Rosenthal. The title, explains Variety, refers to mob slang for contract killings, and the resulting blood splatter on walls and floors.

The book was written by Charles Brandt, who befriended Sheeran shortly before the latter’s death in 2003. According to the 2004 book, Sheeran confessed certain murders to Brandt including the killing and dismemberment of Hoffa, carried out on orders from mob boss Russell Bufalino.

Zaillian most recently wrote "American Gangster" and was a co-writer of the Scorsese-directed "Gangs of New York." The duo had also teamed on "Schindler’s List" before Scorsese turned the project over to Steven Spielberg. Zaillian won an Oscar for his "Schindler’s List" script.

Scorsese just completed a screen adaptation of the Dennis Lehane novel "Shutter Island" with Leonardo DiCaprio. He is currently settling on his next directing project, with "Silence," "The Wolf of Wall Street" and "The Long Play" at the top of his list.