Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio team up once again to produce action film
"Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, Chad A Verdi, LBI Entertainment's Christopher Donelly, and Gareth West have teamed to produce 'Carthage Must Be Destroyed', an action film to be directed by Ocean's Eleven scribe Ted Griffin.
In the action thriller, a stranger happens upon a rust-belt city in decline, ruled by its criminal underworld. He uses brain and brawn to sow distrust and create chaos to dismantle the corrupt power structure, reported Deadline.
Verdi Productions and Ketchup Entertainment are financing, and casting is underway for an October production start in Rhode Island.
Scorsese and DiCaprio are executive producers; Verdi, West, Donnelly, Michelle Verdi, Chad Verdi Jr., Paul Luba, and Jennifer Davisson are producers. Lisa Frechette and Sera Verdi are also executive producers. The production companies are Sikelia Productions, Appian Way Productions, Verdi Productions, and Ketchup Entertainment, according to the outlet.
Verdi Productions president Chad A Verdi called the film "a dynamic project," and they all sparked the idea to "bring Ted's outstanding screenplay to the big screen.
"Collaborating with Marty, Leo, Jen, Gareth, and Chris is a pleasure. Our extraordinary production team will elevate this project to new heights," he was quoted as saying by Deadline.
Scorsese and DiCaprio have made six feature films and one short film together since 2002. In 1999, Scorsese produced a documentary on Italian filmmakers titled Il Mio Viaggio in Italia, also known as My Voyage to Italy.
The documentary foreshadowed the director's next project, the epic Gangs of New York (2002), which was influenced by (among many others) major Italian directors such as Luchino Visconti and filmed entirely at Rome's famous Cinecitta film studios.
The duo then worked on the 2004 biopic The Aviator, with DiCaprio starring as aviation pioneer and filmmaker Howard Hughes.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
18 minutes ago
- The National
Why Stanley Tucci doesn't want to be the next Anthony Bourdain
Stanley Tucci has a lot of time to think, and he hates it. The American actor, 64, has spent the majority of his life making movies – Conclave, The Devil Wears Prada, The Hunger Games, to name a few – and as much as he loves acting, he laments the fact that he doesn't actually do all that much of it. 'Acting doesn't fulfil me as much as it used to,' Tucci tells The National. 'You're on these sets for 12 to 13 hours a day, and you may only act for 20 minutes of that time. I end up thinking, 'there's got to be a better way to do this! I just want to keep going and going – I'm very impatient. 'I get paid to wait. It's the acting I do for free. That's the way I feel, at this point.' The problem is, when you're sitting around all day, you're rarely learning something – even about yourself. It's a problem we all have – but he has lost patience with that disconnect. Which is why, over the last decade, Tucci has gone out into the world to learn more about who he really is – through travel and especially through food. 'I think we've gotten out of touch with ourselves physically,' Tucci explains. 'One of the reasons is we're all sitting in front of computers, or on our phones all the time – or myself, waiting on a set – and desk work is far more prominent than doing any kind of labour.' In Tucci's mind, it's all connected. By focusing more on what he eats, he's thought more about where it comes from – both the land, and the culture and traditions the land inspires. And by starting at the source, we see ourselves more clearly. 'Getting in touch with the land is so important. From the land comes our food, and then the food goes onto the table, and into us,' says Tucci. Growing up, Tucci was also quite disconnected from his roots. He didn't understand why all the other kids at his small-town school 75 km outside of New York City were eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and he was having leftovers his mother had packed him of last night's eggplant parmigiana. But with each passing decade, he has increasingly immersed himself in his Italian heritage – and embracing even its flaws. And by focusing his journey on food, he has ended up learning more about the country's rich complexities than one might imagine. All of this is in service to understanding the country – and himself – better. 'I don't want to romanticise Italy. I think that's been done ad nauseum. I think it's not interesting and it's not truthful,' says Tucci. Tucci in Italy, his new National Geographic series airing weekly in the UAE and available to stream on Disney+, embraces what he feels is the true Italy. In the first episode, for example, he explores Tuscany, focusing specifically on dishes that were created by and for the working class. First he tries lampredotto, the Florentine street food sandwich made from the fourth stomach of a cow. It's named after the eels that once inhabited the Arno river, and only the rich could afford. The tripe dish, then, was invented to imitate its flavours. But the story doesn't stop here. Tucci then finds another old peasant dish made with imitation tripe by those that couldn't even afford cow stomach. That one might even be his favourite. Politically speaking, there's a reason that he focuses on the lower class – at a time when, once again, immigrants and the poor are being scapegoated, both in Italy and in the United States. It's something his immigrant family likely went through once, too. 'I think particularly in today's climate, immigrants are vilified and wrongly so, because they have so much to bring to a culture. Millions of Italians once came over to America, and they were vilified to a certain extent. Also, I think that's something that Italian Americans have to remember, and Italians themselves should remember, too,' says Tucci. But as much as he's enjoyed diving into the unexplored corners of Italy for the series – with another season already shot and set to air next year – he's also adamant that his journey will stop there. While he wants to go deeper into his ancestral homeland, a project he started with the CNN series Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy in 2021, he doesn't want to explore the rest of the world on camera. It's clear he doesn't want to be the next Anthony Bourdain – the late chef who grew internationally famous for his globetrotting food series Parts Unknown. 'I don't want to do different regions and different countries, because I don't think that would be appropriate. I don't have a connection to those countries,' Tucci explains. In fact, it sounds like Tucci doesn't think there should be another Anthony Bourdain at all. Instead, he wants the Tucci in Italy model to be repeated globally – starring figures who are looking to explore their roots, not modern-day adventurers looking to become the Indiana Jones of restaurants. 'I think it would be more interesting to have somebody like me explore those countries in the way that I've done it – and they need to have a connection to those countries. They need to speak the language, and they have to really, really appreciate the food – not just like to eat. 'They have to know food and be willing to explore and ask questions. It's not just about what's delicious – it's about understanding the passion of the people that make it.' In fact, the next season of Tucci in Italy may be the final food travel series for Tucci. 'I'm kind of tired,' he says. Tucci is grappling with the fact that, at 64, he's aging. And part of knowing himself now is about knowing how to navigate his limitations. He's doing that by focusing, once again, on food. 'As a person who's getting older, your body is changing all the time – meaning it's getting weaker all the time. You need to know what it is you need to strengthen yourself - to keep yourself strong. Otherwise I'll grow impatient with myself, too.'
The National
6 hours ago
- The National
Lockerbie suspect's trial expected to begin in 2026
US prosecutors are expected to request a federal court to set an April 2026 trial date for Abu Agila Mohammad Masud, the Libyan man accused of making the bomb that brought down Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988. According to a joint status report seen by The National, federal prosecutors and court-appointed lawyers for Mr Masud, 73, plan to prepare and submit a pretrial schedule after a June 5 hearing. 'Given the complex, international nature of the evidence in this case, that pretrial schedule will have several atypical features,' the report reads. At least three depositions of foreign nationals will have to take place outside the US before the trial begins, the report notes. A court transcript shows that continuing health problems affecting the suspect have been a consistent obstacle in bringing his case to trial. 'I'm sorry to hear about your medical issues,' Judge Dabney Friedrich said to Mr Masud, who was observing the hearing by video conference with the assistance of a translator. She asked for Mr Masud's lawyers to provide updates about his health condition in the weeks ahead. 'We will certainly endeavour to provide the court whatever updates we can regarding the medical appointments, but it may be helpful to have an update from the marshals as well since they are the direct communicators with the medical providers,' said Whitney Minter, one of the Lockerbie suspect's court-appointed lawyers. Parts of the transcript are redacted, obscuring possible details about Mr Masud's health, along with other trial planning discussions and concerns. The unredacted sections show an effort by prosecutors and the federal court to allow victims to listen to the June 5 hearing, along with other court dates in what has become a complex investigation. 'We have the information for the victim group,' said one of the prosecutors, telling the judge that as many of those affected by the tragedy as possible had been notified around the world of the proceedings. The defendant said little at the recent pretrial conference. 'If my lawyers need me, I am available,' he said. In 2023, Mr Masud pleaded not guilty in connection to the 1988 attack, one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in UK and US history. Only one other person, former Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset Al Megrahi, has been convicted for the bombing. After his conviction in 2001, Mr Megrahi spent seven years in a Scottish prison, but he was eventually released on compassionate grounds and died in Libya in 2012. In 2003, Libya claimed responsibility for the attack that took down the plane. The US government filed charges against Mr Masud in 2020, but it took more than two years to extradite him from Libya. All 259 people on board perished in the attack and 11 people were killed by falling debris on December 21, 1988, shortly after the Pan Am flight took off from London bound for New York. Of the victims, 190 were American citizens, along with others from the UK, Argentina, Belgium, Bolivia, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Trinidad and Tobago.
The National
9 hours ago
- The National
Who is Mohamed Sabry Soliman, the suspect in the Boulder attack on Jewish group?
Mohamed Sabry Soliman, the suspect in the attack on a pro-Israel gathering in Colorado, has told police that he would do it again. He has been charged with a federal hate crime and first-degree assault, among other crimes. Who is Mohamed Sabry Soliman? Mr Soliman, 45, is originally from Egypt. In 2022, he arrived in California on a non-immigrant visa that expired in February 2023, according to CBS News. He had been living in Colorado Springs. An online CV under Mr Soliman's name said he was employed by a Denver-area healthcare company working in accounting and inventory control, with prior employers listed as companies in Egypt. Under education, the resume listed Al Azhar University in Cairo. Speaking to the Associated Press, neighbours said Mr Soliman had five children. According to court documents, Mr Soliman said he waited for his daughter to graduate before carrying out the attack. Tricia McLaughlin, spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a post on X that Mr Soliman 'is illegally in our country'. She said that Mr Soliman sought asylum in September 2022, but did not share details about the status of his claim. Who was the target of the attack? The alleged target of the attack was a group of people gathered in central Boulder calling for the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza. About 60 people are still believed to be held by Hamas and other militant groups in the enclave after being kidnapped in October 2023 during attacks on southern Israel; only about a third of them are believed to still be alive. Witnesses say Mr Soliman, armed with a makeshift flame-thrower and shouting "free Palestine", attacked the peaceful demonstration. In video circulating online, Mr Soliman can be heard shouting at bystanders: 'How many children have you killed?' and 'end Zionists'. Authorities have said that Mr Soliman prepared for the attack for a year, and that given the opportunity, he would do it again. Law enforcement found more than a dozen unlit Molotov cocktails near where Mr Soliman was arrested. Mr Soliman told investigators he constructed the home-made incendiary devices after doing research on YouTube and buying the ingredients, according to court documents. He is being held on a $10 million bond and was due to appear in court on Monday.
