Is Martin Scorsese going to direct a biopic about the life of recently minted U.S. postal stamp figure and seminal American crooner, Frank Sinatra?
Ol’ blue eyes’ youngest daughter Tina Sinatra seems to think so.
In an interview with the Toronto Sun/Sun Media, Sinatra’s daughter told the reporter that “the most prominent Italian-American filmmaker” would be helming a film about her famous father.
When the reporter guessed Francis Ford Coppola, she responded. “We adore him but he didn’t step up to it.”
Later she relented and admitted that Scorsese was the man. “You’ll be reading about it very soon … oh, go ahead and print it, I don’t care!,” she said but admitted that talk about the project was somewhat premature.
The film will apparently not be a gangsta-fied version of Sinatra’s life and instead the pugnacious singer would be shown as “innocent of any true involvement with the Mafia or other gangsters.”
“Marty has always wanted to do this,” Sinatra told the Sun, adding that the director has been in a reflective mood and would want to set the record straight about any contumelious rumors about his Mafia involvement. “I trust him [Scorsese] implicitly,” she said.
We feel somewhat dubious about the whole thing, especially since her focus seems to be about debunking his gangster ties – this doesn’t sound like a project Scorsese would be interested in (a least not a propaganda piece specifically designed to show Frank as having no Mafia involvement; we would assume there are much richer stories to tell).
Scorsese is currently busy with an adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s “Shutter Island” (starring Leo DiCaprio) and two documentaries – one about the life of “quiet” Beatle George Harrison and one about reggae legend Bob Marley. If this project does in fact happen, one can safely assume it’s at least 5-6 years off if not more. This guy is equally skeptical and we like where he’s coming from.
