Latest news with #FOXNATION
Fox News
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Martin Scorsese threatened to get a gun to protect ‘Taxi Driver' from studio cuts
Though it's been nearly 40 years since Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver" hit theaters, the Oscar Award-winning director still recalls the extreme measures he considered taking in order to convince the studio to greenlight the 1976 film in its entirety. In a preview clip for Apple TV+'s documentary "Mr. Scorsese," the 82-year-old director, along with Steven Spielberg, recalled the studio's (Columbia Pictures) concern about the movie's bloody content. "Marty was very upset," Spielberg, 78, said at the beginning of the clip. "I get a call at the office, and he said, 'Steve, Steve, this is Marty. Can you come over to the house?'" "They wanted me to cut all the blood spurting," Scorsese reveals. "They wanted me to cut the guy who loses the hand..." "You got a gun?" an interviewer asks him behind the scenes. "I was going to get one," he admits. "So you said you were going to get a gun?" the interviewer asks. "And you said you were going to do what with the gun?" WATCH: NEW EPISODES OF 'MARTIN SCORSESE PRESENTS THE SAINTS' NOW STREAMING ON FOX NATION "I don't know. I was angry. I said I was going to threaten them... I'll maybe just shoot or something. I had no idea. I mean, I was just threatening. What I wanted to do, and not with a gun, I would go in, find out where the rough cut is, and break the windows and take it away. They were going to destroy the film anyway, you know. So let me destroy it. I'll destroy it. But before destroying it, I'm going to steal it." "Spielberg said, 'Marty, stop that. Marty you can't do that.' I said... The more they said no, the more I said I was going to do it," he continues. Spielberg said someone, possibly Scorsese, "mollified" the Motion Picture Association of America. "What if we take that whole sequence and tone the color down and make it feel more like a tabloid," Scorsese said. "He saved the movie because he didn't have to cut any of the violence, he just had to take the color red down to a kind of brown," Spielberg explained. A representative for Scorsese did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. The film, which starred Jodie Foster and Robert De Niro, received four nominations at the 49th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (De Niro) and Best Supporting Actress (Foster). In 2024, Foster — who has been acting since she was 3 years old — opened up about her experience filming the thriller. "I first worked with Martin Scorsese when I was about 10 on 'Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore,'" she said in an interview with W magazine. "By the time I was 12, I'd made a lot more films than De Niro or Scorsese." "They were definitely scared of me. 'What do we do with this 12-year-old?' I was in my hot pants and corkies, or whatever those platform shoes were called." Foster played a child prostitute in the 1976 drama. De Niro was 31 during filming, and he'd been acting for around a decade. Scorsese had directed seven full-length films and a number of shorts at the time.
Fox News
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Martin Scorsese's 'The Saints' returns to Fox Nation for Lent spotlighting Francis of Assisi, other legends
Fox Nation will roll out part two of its hit docudrama series 'Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints' beginning on Friday, April 4 and through the Easter season. Hosted, narrated and executive produced by celebrated Academy Award-winning filmmaker Martin Scorsese, the exclusive docudrama from Lionsgate Alternative Television explores the remarkable stories of men and women who risked everything to embody humanity's most noble and complex trait — faith. Part two of the popular docudrama series returns with episode one, now streaming exclusively on Fox Nation, centering around Francis of Assisi. The episode details his journey from the horrors he faced in war to his later dedication to Jesus Christ during the Fifth Crusade. MARTIN SCORSESE ILLUMINATES HISTORY'S BOLDEST SAINTS IN FOX NATION SERIES HE DIDN'T BELIEVE COULD BE DONE' During the beginning of the 13th century, Francis of Assisi was captured and held as a prisoner of war during a war between Assisi and Perugia. Scarred by the experience, Francis put aside his old life of frivolity and searched for new meaning. He found it in a command from Jesus himself – to "rebuild my church." As the new episode explores, Francis spent the rest of his life following that command—in the process starting a brotherhood, preaching on how to live like Christ, and even ending face-to-face with the Saracen leader, Sultan Al-Kamil at the height of the Fifth Crusade. "Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints" originally premiered in November 2024, releasing episodes throughout the Christian season of Advent that centered around the lives of other famous figures such as Joan of Arc, John the Baptist, Sebastian, and Maximilian Kolbe. This Lenten season, the focus of the series shifts to three more historical figures, including the aforementioned Francis of Assisi, Moses the Black and Mary Magdalene. The themes remain focused on these "extraordinary figures" and their brave acts of 'kindness, selflessness and sacrifice', per the official show description. Scorsese himself has explored religious themes throughout his storied career, including the 1988 film, "The Last Temptation of Christ." In November 2024, he said during a panel discussion after an exclusive screening of the show that he "didn't believe it could be done," referring to the show's existence, previously saying he's "excited" to be working with Fox Nation on his lifelong passion learn more about the story of Francis of Assisi as only Scorsese can tell it, subscribe to Fox Nation. Fox Nation programs are viewable on-demand and from your mobile device app, but only for Fox Nation subscribers. Go to Fox Nation to start a free trial and watch the extensive library from your favorite Fox Nation personalities.
