Al Pacino has been making the rounds at TIFF (everyone is there, apparently) and was asked about Scorsese's long-brewing mob flick, The Irishman, which he'll star in with Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro. The film has been on the backburner and will stay there until Scorsese's done with Silence, but Pacino says it's still going to happen with Cannavale now part of the cast. Penned by Steve Zaillian and adapted from Charles Brandt's book, I Heard You Paint Houses, the film is about infamous mob hitman Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran. Scorsese doesn't begin working on Silence until next year so we won't see The Irishman until 2016 at the earliest.
Cannavale recently had a recurring role on HBO's Boardwalk Empire, which Scorsese is an exec-producer on, and it looks like the two will be working together once again. He's set to star as a music exec in Scorsese's rock music series pilot for the pay network, which boasts the talents of Mick Jagger and The Wolf of Wall Street screenwriter Terence Winter. Cannavale will play Richie Finestra, a charismatic, cocaine-fueled New York record exec in 1977 when punk, hip-hop, and disco music were colliding. Scorsese will direct the pilot from a Winter script.
The next couple of appearances by Cannavale will see him in comedic form. He has a role in the Annie remake alongside Quvenzhane Wallis and Jamie Foxx, and he'll star with Melissa McCarthy in Spy. [THR/TheDailyBeast]
