According to the European media (via AuteursDaily), Martin Scorsese is set to start shooting an adaptation of Brian Selznick’s best-selling children’s historical fiction book “The Invention Of Hugo Cabret” this May in Paris before moving onto London.
The project originally had “Ice Age” helmer Chris Wedge attached to direct an adaptation penned by “The Aviator” scribe John Logan before that fell through last year. Graham King was reported to be producing alongside Johnny Depp’s production company, Infinitum Nihil for Warner Brothers with King, if still on board, possibly being the additional link to Scorsese having produced his 2006 film “The Departed.”
But this is odd. No word in the trades yet and Scorsese jumps over three or four other projects in the works? Hmm, we’re sure either the trades will respond or someone will debunk this story, but either way, news of Scorsese’s participation comes out of nowhere.
Meanwhile, the book was first released in 2007 and follows an orphaned boy who secretly lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station looking after the clocks and gets caught up in a mystery adventure when he attempts to repair a mechanical man. Not only does the story feature fantastical elements, it is also set in 1931 which would mean Scorsese would presumably have to create such a world.
Are Warner Brother’s really going to miss the ‘Harry Potter’ franchise this much? Scorsese is a busy man and it surely would have taken a sizable paycheck to draw him away from his schedule on something like this. The director has “Shutter Island” and a George Harrison doc set for release this year, promised updates on his Frank Sinatra biopic in February, has his HBO series “Boardwalk Empire” beginning – though his involvement in that will probably be minimal. He also has his 17th century film about two Jesuit priests, “Silence,” hopefully still on the horizon, not to mention another mob film with Robert DeNiro, “I Heard You Paint Houses” on the docket for some time in the future.
We’re interested to see what Scorsese can do this adaptation but have to admit we’d much prefer the director tackle “Sinatra” or “Silence.”
i 'm a 30 years old woman loving movies and i want to see a cooorect movie with a decent story in 2011!!!
I´m an Scorcese bitch, so, anything he does, i will see.
I disagree. I prefer Scorsese doing this rather than Sinatra (Silence sounds interesting). He has never made a children's film before, so the idea of a period-fantasy helmed by him is great.
I recently bought this book for a gift, and the illustrations are gorgeous. This is the kind of fantasy piece that would've intrigued Powell & Pressburger so if true, I'm not at all surprised Scorsese is circling.
this book is about cinema, the boy meets Georges Melies.i think they even watch le voyage dans la lune in the cinema. this is the perfect job for scorsese. and this was not coming from nowhere, "hugo cabret" was in plan two years ago, if i remember correctly
I'd rather see Marty helm "The Last Duel." The books is great.
While I'm also itching to see "Silence", when I was looking back over what movies I really liked in 2009, movies about kids or for kids (or both) seemed to be a large chunk of what I enjoyed. Scorsese's never really been a child-friendly director, so I'm interested to see what he does with this if it turns out to be true.
Anything but Sinatra.
It would probably benefit Scorsese creatively to do something that isn't a retread of past territory.
"news of Scorsese's participation comes out of nowhere"
That's a weird statement because in the beginning of 2007 it was announced in the trades that Paramount bought the rights for Scorsese to direct.
three years ago is note lately. and check every movie site out there, it was on no one's radar, but yes, thanks for the reminder, we forgot.