Martin Scorsese’s next film could be a mob movie set in Hawaii that would reunite him with Leonardo DiCaprio and see him work with former wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson for the first time.
Emily Blunt is also reportedly attached to the as-yet-untitled project, with a script by writer and documentarian Nick Bilton.
Deadline reports that Johnson and Blunt, who are starring together in the forthcoming A24 UFC fighter biopic The Smashing Machine, pitched Scorsese and DiCaprio the idea of a movie based on a real-life mob boss who battled for control of the Hawaiian islands in the 1960s and 1970s.
The project, thought to be modeled after Scorsese classics like Goodfellas and The Departed, is now being shopped around Hollywood.
Scorsese and DiCaprio are longtime collaborators, with shared credits on The Aviator, The Departed, Gangs of New York, and The Wolf of Wall Street and Best Picture nominee Killers of Flower Moon.
Johnson and Blunt previously starred together in Disney’s Jungle Cruise.
The Smashing Machine will star Johnson as MMA fighter and UFC pioneer Mark Kerr, which is set to be released later this year.
The film was written and directed by Benny Safdie, who previously co-wrote and co-directed Uncut Gems, one of A24’s biggest commercial successes to date.
Kerr is a former wrestler who competed as a mixed martial artist between 1997 and 2009. During his MMA career, he was a two-time UFC Heavyweight Tournament Champion, World Vale Tudo Championship tournament winner, and a Pride FC competitor.
He was previously the subject of a 2003 HBO documentary, also titled The Smashing Machine after Kerr’s longtime nickname. The new film will reportedly take place around the turn of the millennium and will follow Kerr’s struggles with love and addiction as well as his exploits in the ring.
Johnson made his name as World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) star The Rock before launching his acting career.
He has gone on to become one of Hollywood’s highest-paid celebrities with his influence spreading all the way to Washington DC. Johnson has revealed he was approached by several political parties to ask if he’d consider running for US President in 2024.
In 2021, the Fast and Furious star was the subject of a political poll, in which 46 percent of US adults said they would support the actor’s presidential campaign.
The Independent’s Eric Garcia wrote at the time that the people’s champion could become the people’s president should he stage a White House run. After all, “just look at some of the Jabronis we have now”.
