Joe Pesci Signed on for Martin Scorsese’s ‘The Irishman’

Alongside a filmography list spanning fifty years, what’s equally memorable about the works of director Martin Scorsese are his reoccurring partnerships with specific actors. From his involvement with Robert De Niro in films like Taxi Driver and Goodfellas, to five feature collaborations with Leonardo DiCaprio, one tends to recognize a Scorsese film by those who are cast. Now, it appears that a handful of familiar faces will be teaming up with the director once again, including one that audiences haven’t seen in quite some time.

Now it has been confirmed by Deadline that veteran actor Joe Pesci will be teaming up once again with Scorsese for his upcoming production The Irishman. Based on the deathbed confession of Frank ‘The Irishman” Sheeran regarding the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa, the film will star De Niro as Sheeran alongside Al Pacino, with Harvey Keitel and Bobby Cannavale presumably on board. Pesci, who according to sources turned down his role 50 times before signing on, will be playing Russel Bufalino, a mob boss who presumably played a role in Hoffa’s disappearance. Even more impressive is the fact that this will mark Pesci’s first return to acting since 2010’s Love Ranch, as well as a cameo in 2006’s The Good Shepard.

Even though this will be Al Pacino’s first time working with Scorsese, the other cast members are making this film out to be one hell of a collaboration reunion. In addition, Scorsese will be joined by longtime casting director Ellen Lewis, editor Thelma Schoonmaker and cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, who previously filmed The Wolf of Wall Street and Silence. The movie will begin production next month in New York and, should things go as planned, wrap up by December.

Originally under contract with Paramount, The Irishman was recently purchased by Netflix in February. Despite the small-screen streaming, the film will receive a limited theatrical release, most likely in December 2018, in time for the Academy Awards.