A chorus of cinephiles enthusiastically screaming “Fuck YES” in note-perfect unison could be heard around the world on Thursday, the day news broke that Martin Scorsese may be helming a decidedly star-stacked new film set in Hawaii.
Reporting for Deadline, Mike Fleming Jr. and Justin Kroll shared the potential project will be written by Nick Bilton, with the `60s and `70s-set story centering on a Hawaiian mobster “based on a real figure.” The character is further described in Thursday’s report using two key Scorsese titles as a point of comparison, the De Niro and Liotta-led gangster classic Goodfellas and the Best Picture-winning The Departed.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Emily Blunt, soon to be seen in Benny Safdie’s Mark Kerr biopic The Smashing Machine, are reported to have first pitched the idea to Leonardo DiCaprio and Scorsese. All three—Johnson, Blunt, DiCaprio—are expected to star in the film. Bilton, notably, is a special correspondent for Vanity Fair and the author of American Kingpin and Hatching Twitter.
Complex has reached out to reps for Johnson, DiCaprio, Blunt, and Scorsese for comment. This story may be updated.
Johnson has a deep connection to the Hawaiian Islands, at one point telling fans it felt “surreal” to return to his old high school for a Young Rock-promoting YouTube video. While the potential Scorsese title will mark his and DiCaprio’s first film together, it’ll actually stand as the third to pair him with Blunt, following Jungle Cruise in 2021 and the aforementioned The Smashing Machine, due this year.
This also marks the first time either Johnson or Blunt have worked with Scorsese, whose past work with DiCaprio is extensive, including the revered director’s most recent film, 2023’s Killers of the Flower Moon.
No home for the film has been set for now, at least not publicly, but it’s hard to imagine a deal not coming together soon.