Martin Scorsese has finally wrapped filming on his latest feature, The Irishman. The upcoming gangster movie is based on the book I Heard You Paint Houses, the story of hitman Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran. Scorsese’s approach is to set the film in two time periods and digitally de-age stars Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci.

Scorsese tweeted out the following on Instagram:

[EMBED_INSTA]https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf9LhVKhTPJ/[/EMBED_INSTA]

Great! So we should be seeing it soon, right? Well, not so fast. First off, The Irishman is going to involve a lot of post-production in order to get the digital effects just right. While we’ve come a long way in digitally de-aging in a relatively short amount of time (look at Jeff Bridges as Clu in TRON: Legacy versus Kurt Russell as a young Ego in Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2), it’s still not an easy process to make it look convincing. The other factor is that Scorsese and editor Thelma Schoonmaker take their time in the editing process, routinely going about a year to make sure they’ve got the film just right.

That means that The Irishman is still on track for 2019, and chances are we’ll see it in the back half of 2019 as Netflix tries to mount an awards push for the high-priced picture (current estimates have it on track to be Scorsese’s most expensive movie ever). New Scorsese is always a cause for celebration, and why the wait will be painful, you can watch Silence to help pass the time. One or two viewings ought to do it.

Here’s the synopsis for Charles Brandt’s I Heard You Paint Houses:

The first words Jimmy Hoffa ever spoke to Frank "the Irishman" Sheeran were, "I heard you paint houses." To paint a house is to kill a man. The paint is the blood that splatters on the walls and floors. In the course of nearly five years of recorded interviews Frank Sheeran confessed to Charles Brandt that he handled more than twenty-five hits for the mob, and for his friend Hoffa.

Sheeran learned to kill in the U.S. Army, where he saw an astonishing 411 days of active combat duty in Italy during World War II. After returning home he became a hustler and hit man, working for legendary crime boss Russell Bufalino. Eventually he would rise to a position of such prominence that in a RICO suit then-U.S. Attorney Rudy Giuliani would name him as one of only two non-Italians on a list of 26 top mob figures.

When Bufalino ordered Sheeran to kill Hoffa, he did the deed, knowing that if he had refused he would have been killed himself.

Sheeran's important and fascinating story includes new information on other famous murders including those of Joey Gallo and JFK, and provides rare insight to a chapter in American history. Charles Brandt has written a page-turner that has become a true crime classic.

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