Cannes Film Festival 2013

Will Martin Scorsese bewitch or bewilder viewers with Sinatra's story?

Director picked to helm feature on Ol' Blue Eyes

<p>A classic shot of the legendary Frank Sinatra.</p>

A classic shot of the legendary Frank Sinatra.

Martin Scorsese has been tapped to direct a new biopic on Ol' Blue Eyes, Frank Sinatra.

"Sinatra" will chronicle the life of the Hoboken, N.J.-born entertainer, who went on to become of of the most successful singers in the history of modern music. Sinatra won 10 Grammy Awards, three Oscars and two Golden Globes. Oscar-nominated screenwriter, Phil Alden Robinson, who wrote the script for "Field of Dreams," will pen "Sinatra."

It's not Scorsese's first go-round with a member of the Rat Pack, my Hitfix colleague Drew McWeeny reminds me. Years ago, he tried to make a biopic on the life of Dean Martin starring Tom Hanks. However, they were never able to wrangle a script that worked. He was also attached to a documentary on Bob Marley, but ultimately dropped out and director Jonathan Demme picked up that project.

Universal Pictures and Mandalay Pictures are developing the project after securing the rights from Frank Sinatra Enterprises, the joint venture owned by the Sinatra Estate and Warner Music Group. Mandalay Entertainment Group chairman Jon Peters and Mandalay Pictures president Cathy Schulman are producing the movie, the first theatrical adaptation of Sinatra's life, in conjunction with Scorsese's Sikelia Productions.

Of course, Scorsese is well known for his work on music documentaries. From 1978's "The Last Waltz," which covered the Band's final shows at Madison Square Garden to 2005's "No Direction Home," a documentary about Bob Dylan, and last year's "Shine a Light," which captured the Rolling Stones at the Beacon Theater for IMAX, Scorsese has shown a unique affinity and love for music. He recently completed a documentary on George Harrison, which will come out next year.

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  • Default-avatar

    crs

    The Band's final show (singular, not plural) was at the Winterland in San Fran, not MSG.

    What I'm curious about is who on earth they're going to get to play Sinatra? I'm hoping they just pick a small segment of his life, preferably early on, and go with a relative unknown.

    May 14, 2009 at 4:05PM EST Reply to Comment
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    Jordo

    I know it's fairly cliche at this point, but I see Leo being cast as Sinatra. The resemblance is there.

    May 14, 2009 at 6:22PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    melinda

    CRS-- Right you are! I literally have no idea what I was thinking about MSG and, quite frankly, can't even hazard a guess...Good catch.

    May 14, 2009 at 7:41PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    ginolatino

    This is very simple Bradley Cooper is the perfect choice he can turn the temper switch and is half italian..you dont need a big name because Sinatra was bigger than life.and you don't need a singer either very rare you get an actor that can do both well Jaime Fox, Val Kilmer

    May 24, 2009 at 11:28AM EST Reply to Comment

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