From The Never-Gonna-Happen Files, Pacino And Pesci May Join De Niro And Scorsese For THE IRISHMAN!

Beaks here...

Deadline's Michael Fleming is reporting that Al Pacino and Joe Pesci are "circling" what could potentially be Martin Scorsese's next film, THE IRISHMAN. Based on the non-fiction I HEARD YOU PAINT HOUSES by Charles Brandt, the movie would center on the life and times of mob hit man Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran, who, among many other alleged crimes, may have had a hand in the murder of Jimmy Hoffa. It appears THE IRISHMAN would also star Robert De Niro, who is currently developing the film with his Tribeca Productions partner Jane Rosenthal for Paramount. De Niro, Pacino, Pesce, and Scorsese? With a screenplay by Steve Zaillian? It'll never happen. I'm going to remain skeptical about this because I would love nothing more than to see these gentlemen making a mob movie together - especially if the idea of doing a complementary, Fellini-esque second movie is still in play. In case you missed the news from earlier this year, here's how De Niro explained the project to MTV...

We have a more ambitious idea, hopefully, to make it a two-part type of film or two films…It’s an idea that came about from Eric Roth to combine these movies using the footage from ‘Paint Houses’ to do another kind of a [film that is] reminiscent of a kind of ‘8 1/2,’ ‘La Dolce Vita,’ [a] certain kind of biographical, semi-biographical type of Hollywood movie — a director and the actor — based on things Marty and I have experienced and kind of overlapping them.

I know Scorsese would really like to make SILENCE, based on the Shusako Endo book about Jesuits in 17th Century Japan - and I'd love to see that, too. But this two-tiered approach to THE IRISHMAN sounds like movie buff heaven. Who wouldn't want to see this? Not to worry, though, 'cuz it'll never happen. Ever.