Sinatra Movie Is In The Works

Famed director Scorsese is set to helm awaited project

BY EMIL TIEDEMANN

Universal/ Mandalay Pictures has given the go-ahead to Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull) (pictured left) to helm a feature biopic of iconic singer-actor Frank Sinatra (pictured bottom right), which will be scripted by Phil Alden Robinson (Field of Dreams, Band of Brothers).

Scorsese, who will also produce, has been tossing around the idea for years now, but aquiring the rights to the legendary entertainer's life story was "very complicated," according to Universal's Cathy Schulman. "Everyone knows that Marty Scorsese is a final-cut director," she continued. "So there had to be a lot of trust that he would tell this story in a way that didn't destory [Sinatra's] memory."

The film, tentatively titled Sinatra, has no actor slated for the lead role yet, though Leonardo DiCaprio's name has been mentioned. DiCaprio seems like an easy choice, as he's starred in Scorsese's Gangs of New York (2002), The Aviator (2004), The Departed (2006), and the upcoming Shutter Island (October 2, 2009). But DiCaprio may easily be overlooked, in order to cast a lead who can sing as well as act, like "Ol' Blue Eyes" himself.

This will be the first film venture on Sinatra's life story, and a prolific one it has been, full of famous affairs and friendships, career highs and lows, prison time, and even supposed mob connections. "We have dreamed of making a movie about Frank Sinatra," claimed Universal's Peter Guber, "and Marty Scorsese is undeniably the perfect vision keeper for this project." Sinatra died in 1998, at the age of 82.