Robert De Niro's Younger Self — via CGI — Expected in Martin Scorsese's 'The Irishman'
Silence opens in theaters this weekend, marking the end of Martin Scorsese’s nearly 30-year quest to make the film. Now that his passion project is ready for audiences, the acclaimed director is beginning work on his next highly anticipated endeavor, which will reunite him with Robert De Niro (along with Al Pacino!) for the first time since 1995’s Casino. More fascinating still, in order to bring the actor’s younger self to life for the film, Scorsese reportedly will be turning to Rogue One-style CGI.
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The Irishman concerns the real-life story of Frank Sheeran, who claimed (upon his deathbed) to be the man who murdered legendary union bigwig Jimmy Hoffa (whose body has never been found). For this tale, which will return Scorsese to the underworld stories he’s told so well, the director may be employing the same sort of computer effects that helped bring Peter Cushing back to life in Rogue One — except, in this case, they’ll be used to make De Niro look decades younger.
Speaking with Cinemablend’s Gregory Wakeman, producer Gaston Pavlovich revealed the CGI plans for The Irishman:
“Well it’s an extraordinary technology that we’ve been looking at. You don’t use prosthetics, make-up, they have acting and the technology is able to have them go through different time ages without the prosthetics. So we’ve seen some tests and it looks extraordinary. We were able to film Bob and just do a scene, and we saw it come down to when he was like 20, 40, 60, so we’re looking forward to that, from that point of view, for The Irishman.… Imagine seeing what De Niro looked like in The Godfather II days, that’s pretty much how you’re going to see him again.”
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Cinemablend also surmises that, because most of the film’s characters are portrayed as younger men throughout its story, this same technology is likely to be used for Pacino and the rest of the cast — which, for some time, has been said to have a role for De Niro’s Goodfellas and Casino cohort Joe Pesci, if he wants it. For more on The Irishman’s digital intentions, read Cinemablend’s full article.
Watch Robert De Niro in the ‘Mean Streets’ (1973) preview:
