Robert DeNiro and Martin Scorsese team up for Irish gang movie

It's the year of the Irish mobster. Hot on the heels of Kill The Irishman (opening Friday 11) Robert De Niro has announced he's teaming up with Martin Scorsese for new gangster flick "The Irishman".

Kate Hickey

Mar 08, 2011

It's the year of the Irish mobster. Hot on the heels of Kill The Irishman (opening Friday 11) Robert De Niro has announced he's teaming up with Martin Scorsese for new gangster flick The Irishman.

It will be the ninth time the step out for a project together, with stalwarts Joe Pesci and Al Pacino also signed on.

Discussing the film, based on the novel by Charles Brandt, De Niro said: "It’s a movie based on a book called I Heard You Paint Houses. It’s about a guy who confessed that he killed Hoffa and also Joe Gallo over here on Hester Street. And so I’m going to play that character, Joe Pesci’s gonna be in it and Al Pacino is going to be in it and Marty’s going to direct it."

De Niro will portray Frank Sheeran, a former union leader who becomes a hitman. Gangs of New York scriptwriter Steve Zallian has written the screenplay, which Scorsese said could begin shooting soon.