Acclaimed director Martin Scorsese has his next project on deck — and it’s about Jesus Christ.
The “Taxi Driver” filmmaker, 80, received a blessing from Pope Francis for his upcoming movie.
After attending the Cannes Film Festival last week, Scorsese visited Italy and had a conversation with Antonio Spadaro, editor-in-chief of the magazine “La Civiltà Cattolica” — translated to the “Catholic Civilization” — Monday.
He revealed in the chat that he recently saw the pontiff, 86.
“I responded to the Pope’s appeal to artists the only way I know how: by imagining and writing a screenplay for a film about Jesus,” he said. “And I’m about to start making it.”
The “Aviator” director — who was raised Catholic and often deals with religious subjects in his films — also spoke with Spadaro about his acclaim for Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 1964 epic “The Gospel According to St. Matthew,” as well as his experience working on his 1988 drama “The Last Temptation of Christ.”
He also discussed “the subsequent step in his research on the figure of Jesus” — defined by his 2016 film “Silence.” The film, starring Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver, detailed the killing of Jesuits in 17th-century Japan.
Scorsese’s sit-down was part of “The Global Aesthetics of the Catholic Imagination” conference that was held at the Villa Malta in Rome.
The event was organized by Civiltà Cattolica in conjunction with Georgetown University.
Spadaro and the Oscar-winner had crossed paths previously, with the Jesuit journalist interviewing the latter in 2016 about “Silence.”
Scorsese even divulged that he considered entering the priesthood in his younger years and had always desired to make a movie about the clergy.
“When I was younger, I was thinking of making a film about being a priest. I myself wanted to follow in Father Principe’s footsteps, so to speak, and be a priest. I went to a preparatory seminary but I failed out the first year,” he said.
“And I realized, at the age of 15, that a vocation is something very special, that you can’t acquire it, and you can’t have one just because you want to be like somebody else,” he added. “You have to have a true calling.”
Father Frank Principe was the “Goodfellas” director’s priest while he grew up in Little Italy.
“This man was a real guide,” Scorsese gushed over his old pastor. “He could talk tough, but he never actually forced you to do anything — he guided you. Advised you. Cajoled you. He had such extraordinary love.”
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