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After a zillion potential "next projects" for Scorsese, this is the one that's finally coming to pass -- mainly because it has a script that's ready to shoot and won't be affected by the strike. A number of signed casting decisions have been announced, and it's scheduled to go before the cameras in a couple of months, so this one's really happening. Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, and Ben Kingsley star in the latest adaptation of a Dennis Lehane thriller. Here is The Hollywood Reporter's summary:

In Laeta Kalogridis' adaptation of Dennis Lehane's 2004 novel, Ruffalo will play U.S. Marshal Chuck Aule, who travels with his new partner (DiCaprio) to the eponymous Massachusetts island in 1954. As they investigate the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane, they encounter a web of lies, a hurricane and a deadly inmate riot that leaves them trapped on the island.

Was hoping he would do Silence next, but this could be good.

Ruffalo under Scorsese is beautiful move. I can't wait to see what happens. He will only get better as he gets older, hopefully - unlike John C. Reilly who seems to have plateaued and sold out...

Whatever do you mean?

I go through Dennis Lehane novels like candy; but, I only made it halfway through this one. Unlike "Gone Baby Gone", and "Mystic River", which had something to say, this was a mere thriller with an exaggerated plot typical of thousands of others ... I have heard that the ending is powerful and shame on me for judging something I did not finish ... nevertheless; when you love an author and give up on one of his books, it is not a good sign.

Shit, so that means Silence isn't going to be made any time soon, huh?

I was really looking forward to that film, instead of this.

Marty continues his decade-long descent into studio hackery. And I say this as a big fan of Dennis Lehane (although an even bigger one of Shusaku Endo).

rs98762001 wrote:Marty continues his decade-long descent into studio hackery. And I say this as a big fan of Dennis Lehane (although an even bigger one of Shusaku Endo).

And what's worse is that he's perfectly aware that these films aren't personal statements of any kind and just studio genre films. I was hoping that now that he has his Oscar, and some of the recent interview where he seems to recognize the impersonality of these films, that he would go and start doing the daring and brave stuff he is still perfectly capable of. I guess not. Who knows, maybe he'll make a great film out of this material, but really...

I'm by no stretch a Scorsese fan but why does he keep using DiCaprio?

domino harvey wrote:I'm by no stretch a Scorsese fan but why does he keep using DiCaprio?

Because Scorsese thinks he's a good actor, they have developed a rapport which requires little on-set communication, they're comfortable with each other, and Leo can help a picture get green-lit. The same reasons, really, that Ford had Wayne, Hawks had Grant, and Wilder had Lemmon. I know that DiCaprio-bashing became fashionable in the post-Titanic gigglefest brought on by his young female fans, but I think he's turned into a hell of an actor myself, especially for Scorsese. His turns in The Aviator and The Departed really couldn't be any better.

Does this news increase your enthusiasm any, Domino?

I agree with you Jeff. Though DiCaprio (and Cameron Diaz) were seriously miscast in Gangs Of New York, I think Leo has really brought his game up and I was frankly shocked by how good he was in The Departed. If anything Scorsese has helped him become a much better actor.

I thought Leo was good in Romeo + Juliet, and I've heard great things about his work in The Basketball Diaries of course. I think it's not a question of if he's been good before, it's more about if he would have been able to shed that teenybopper image he got from just doing one movie. And obviously, he did.

The title has been changedto Ashecliffe.

the title and my avatar were the only things this had going for it. And then there was one.

and then there may be none......

Michelle William's - in seclusion following the tragic death of Heath Ledger, her former fiance and father of her two-year-old daughter - might pull out of her next film because it may be too traumatic for her.

The actress, 27, was to have started rehearsals next month on Martin Scorsese's movie Shutter Island, an intense psychological thriller, set in the 1950s, about two federal marshals who investigate strange happenings at a remote medical facility for the criminally insane.

Ms Williams had signed to play a dead woman - Leonardo DiCaprio's character's late wife Dolores - but now she's not certain if she wants to proceed with the film.

"There's some stuff about mind-bending drug experiments, murders and dead people, and the feeling is that Michelle doesn't want that going on in her head so soon after Heath's death," said someone close to the actress.

But Michelle may feel that she wants to plunge straight back in to work.

"She's in such a state she doesn't really know what she wants to do yet," says my source. "She's in Brooklyn, New York, with her daughter and mother. "

"They're just trying to help her keep it all together. Michelle and Heath had an intense history together and she may need a long time to heal."

from dailymail.uk

I'm sure there are any number of actresses out there who are willing to fill in Williams' spot for next to no pay should she drop out. Scorsese and the producers don't have a thing to worry about.

Not sure the name change was warranted, but Ashecliffe sounds like a kid holding his tongue and saying "ass-kiss" (i.e., "I was born on a pirate ship"). Just thought I'd add that to the discussion.

Did you know if your hand is bigger than your face, you have cancer? Here, I'll show you

Release date is Oct. 2, 2008. Everyone except the Boston Herald is still calling it Shutter Island.

Jeff wrote:Release date is Oct. 2, 2008.

Strike that. Variety just changed the date to Oct. 2, 2009. I thought that seemed like a very quick schedule.

Reuters wrote: Scorsese admits mental patients to "Island"

By Carly Mayberry Tue Feb 26, 8:09 AM ET

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Emily Mortimer and Jackie Earle Haley will play mental patients in the mystery drama "Shutter Island," Martin Scorsese's latest collaboration with Leonardo DiCaprio.

Max von Sydow has also joined the cast of the Paramount Vantage project, which begins production next week.

DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo play two U.S. marshals who travel to a Massachusetts island to investigate the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane. Chaos ensues as they encounter a web of deceit, a hurricane and a deadly inmate riot that leaves them trapped on the island. Von Sydow will play one of the hospital's physicians.

Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams and Patricia Clarkson also star in the film, which was adapted by Laeta Kalogridis from "Mystic River" author Dennis Lehane's 2004 novel.

Von Sydow recently appeared in "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," and Mortimer in "Lars and the Real Girl." Haley received an Oscar nomination last year for his supporting role as a sex offender in "Little Children."

Time to change the thread title back, Mods

Wow. Leonard DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Max Von Sydow, Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer, and Jackie Earle Haley. Everyone must be working for scale for the chance to do a picture with Scorsese.

He's the new Woodman.

A brief on set report.

Max Von Sydow...incredible. After wrapping up with Scorcese, he'll probably do a brief stint on Dancing with the Stars, make a cameo in a Tyler Perry flick, and then begin work on a miniseries for Danish television.

Where is this man's honorary Oscar?