Film at Lincoln Center has released that Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman world premiere will take place on the opening night of the 57th New York Film Festival, which takes place between September 27-October 13.
“The Irishman is so many things: rich, funny, troubling, entertaining and, like all great movies, absolutely singular,” said New York Film Festival Director and Selection Committee Chair Kent Jones. “It’s the work of masters, made with a command of the art of cinema that I’ve seen very rarely in my lifetime, and it plays out at a level of subtlety and human intimacy that truly stunned me. All I can say is that the minute it was over my immediate reaction was that I wanted to watch it all over again.”
Robert De Niro headlines The Irishman as mob hitman Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran, reputed to have carried out more than 25 murders. Al Pacino will portray infamously slain labor leader Jimmy Hoffa in what will mark the Academy Award winner’s first time working with Scorsese. It has also been reported that The Irishman may employ extensive (and expensive) digital de-aging techniques so the older actors can portray their characters through the decades. Joe Pesci, meanwhile, will portray Pennsylvania Mafia boss Russell Bufalino, who may have had a hand in the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa. Ray Romano will play another member of the same crime family, Bill Bufalino. Bill Bufalino works as a Teamster lawyer.
Tickets for the 57th New York Film Festival will go on sale to the general public on September 8. Festival and VIP passes are on sale now and offer one of the earliest opportunities to purchase tickets and secure seats at some of the festival’s biggest events, including Opening Night. Support for Opening Night of the New York Film Festival benefits Film at Lincoln Center in its non-profit mission to support the art and craft of cinema.
Steve Zaillian (Schindler’s List, American Gangster) penned the script based on the novel “I Heard You Paint Houses” by Charles Brandt. You can purchase the novel here.
Netflix will finance and distribute The Irishman to theaters for an Oscar-qualifying run. De Niro, Fabrica’s Gaston Pavlovich, Jane Rosenthal, Scorcese, Randall Emmett, and Emma Tillinger Koskoff will produce.
The Irishman will arrive in theaters and on Netflix this fall.