Mystery is the word that seems to best describe how Netflix’s big Martin Scorsese movie, The Irishman, has decided to sell itself. All we’ve had to go on is a vague teaser, and a couple of promo shots released just yesterday to show us what the streaming services’ pricey mob drama would look like.
While the anticipation been nice, there’s been a need for something more, especially with the film promising a de-aged cast, including Robert De Niro himself, helping tell the story of Frank Sheeran and his service to the mob over the course of decades. And now, that’s exactly what we’ve got, as the first trailer has put its cards on the table, as you’ll see below:
It’s not a lot of footage to go by, and if we’re being honest, they definitely hide the full reveal of De Niro’s de-aging until the very end of the trailer. But already The Irishman looks so much like a typical Martin Scorsese film, we can already hear The Rolling Stones playing on the soundtrack; and that’s a compliment.
With the director excelling at such stories with Goodfellas and Casino in his past, The Irishman looks like the return to form that fans have been hoping the film would be. As an added bonus, seeing Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci (freshly out of retirement) teaming up for a potential end all/know all mafia epic is something that has been so hotly anticipated in the course of selling this film.
The results look like they’re going to be something to truly behold, especially when flanking this trio in an impressive cast that includes True Blood’s Anna Paquin and fellow Scorsese alums Bobby Cannavale and Ray Romano, who worked with the director as he helmed the pilot to their defunct HBO series Vinyl.
Possibly the most interesting little detail of The Irishman’s trailer is the fact that this new look at the film is still considered a teaser. With the window ever narrowing between the film’s debut at the 57th New York Film Festival, and presumably a theatrical/streaming bow not too long after, Netflix is definitely cutting it close when it comes to selling this mega budget film.
But seeing as it’s Martin Scorsese’s return to the world of crime and politics, with an amazing cast that looked impossible to assemble, that alone could be selling The Irishman better than any other footage the studio is looking to release.
At the very least, The Irishman has delivered in one key respect thus far: it’s given us a look at the de-aging process so expensive, Netflix is probably crossing its fingers this film can make a mint in theaters, as well as drive its subscriber base to their televisions on the day and date it drops. Ultimately, only you the public can judge if that technology works or not, through seeing it in action, such as in the screenshot provided below.
The clock is now ticking down even faster to moment when the world will be able to see The Irishman, as well as whether or not this latest film is another victory in the jaws of studio acquisitions. The film will open the New York Film Festival on September 29th. However, it still has no release date for its limited theatrical release or its Netflix streaming debut. That’s another wait for another day.
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