Frank Sinatra biopic: Leonardo DiCaprio tipped to play legend in Martin Scorsese biopic

18 April 2024, 11:57

Frank Sinatra delivers beautiful performance in recording studio

By Mayer Nissim

Martin Scorsese is reportedly planning films on two remarkable historical figures.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

Following the success of his epic Killers of the Flower Moon, director Martin Scorsese is said to be planning two major biopics on two incredibly influential real-life characters.

With plans to shoot the films back-to-back, Scorsese is reportedly hoping to make a pair of films about Jesus Christ and Frank Sinatra.

According to Variety, Scorsese wants to cast regular muse Leonardo DiCaprio as Frank Sinatra and Jennifer Lawrence as the crooner's second wife Ava Gardner.

Sony is reported to be leading the chase to make the film with Scorsese, while Apple Films is said to want to continue its relationship with the director after their previous hook-up on Killers of the Flower Moon, which featured a score by and was dedicated to the memory of the late Robbie Robertson.

As it stands, the film doesn't yet have the blessing of Sinatra's daughter Tina, who controls the late singer's estate. The film wouldn't require her permission, but getting it would certainly make things easier.

Frank Sinatra and Leonardo DiCaprio
Frank Sinatra and Leonardo DiCaprio. Picture: Getty Images

Before the Sinatra movie, Scorsese wants to bring Shūsaku Endō's book A Life of Jesus to the big screen.

In 2016, the director adapted Endō's 1966 novel Silence, while he courted controversy with his 1988 movie The Last Temptation of Christ, which starred Willem Dafoe as Jesus, Harvey Keitel as Judas Iscariot and David Bowie as Pontius Pilate.

Andrew Garfield, who starred in Silence, is in the frame to play Jesus, with Miles Teller also said to be considered.