When Martin Scorsese finally won that long sought after Oscar, it was by working with Leonardo DiCaprio and writer William Monahan. That film was The Departed
, itself a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong crime pic, Infernal Affairs
. Scorsese has been indulging in a little experimentation with his films since then, most recently with Shutter Island
and the upcoming 3D kid flick, Hugo. But now it looks like he's going back to his gritty roots with another remake, and he's bringing both DiCaprio and Monahan along with him.THR has the story of Scorsese and Monahan's plan to remake Karel Reisz's excellent 1974 film, The Gambler
, originally starring James Caan. Based on a short story by Dostoyevski, it centered on a NYC English professor named Axel Freed who lived with a secret gambling addiction. As his life begins to spin out of control with mounting debts and dangerous loan sharks, his only recourse is to convince one of his students into shaving points in a basketball game. Paul Sorvino co-starred as Freed's friend and bookie, who threatens harm if his debts aren't paid. Lauren Hutton was featured as well. Deadline recently confirmed DiCaprio's participation, continuing the highly successful working relationship he has with the director. This will be the fifth time they've partnered up, and likely won't be the last. They're supposedly still planning on an adaptation of The Wolf of Wall Street
, based on the Jordan Belfort memoir. I'm assuming they'll keep the story centered in NYC, the location for so many of Scorsese's most memorable films. Then again he and Monahan may change things up a bit like they did in The Departed. Whatever they choose, this is looking like a film to keep an eye on for the coming months.
