Apart from directing the show, Scorsese will also serve as one of the show’s executive producers, alongside his and Leonard’s managers Chris Donnelly and Rick Yorn. The planned Gangs of New York show will be developed by Miramax Television. However, it will be based on new characters and will not be a remake of the original movie. In 2002, the multiple Oscar award winner directed the book’s adaptation to a movie that featured Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Cameron Diaz were the main characters, while Jim Broadbent, Brendan Gleeson, Henry Thomas, John C. Reilly, Stephen Graham, and Eddie Marsan starred in supporting roles. The movie’s script was written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonnergan. The Gangs of New York film went on to gross over $190 million on a budget of about $100 million and earned over 10 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Original Screenplay, and Best Actor. It was also nominated for five Golden Globe awards with Scorsese winning in the Best Director category. Before this show, Scorsese had been tapped to work on a Gangs of New York series by Miramax and GK Holdings in 2013. According to reports, that show was meant to depict the beginnings of organized crime in the United States, while illuminating the rise of organized crime in New York, Chicago, and New Orleans. At the time of that announcement, Scorsese expressed the belief that a television series will provide the time and creative freedom necessary to bring such a story to life when compared to making a two-hour film. Asbury’s novel is set in the late 19th century and chronicles the tale of rival New York City gangs in a tussle for supremacy. The novel is non-fiction and draws from real-life characters of that period. Scorsese’s latest work includes the documentary Personality Crisis: One Night Only, which premiered at the latest New York Film Festival, and an upcoming feature film Killers of the Flower Moon, which will reportedly premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023. The Killers of the Flower Moon, a crime-drama film set in Oklahoma and scheduled for release on Apple TV+, will star Leonardo DiCaprio, Brendan Fraser, Robert DeNiro, Jesse Plemons, and Lily Gladstone. He will also serve as an executive producer for Devil in White City, which will star Keanu Reeves. At the moment, the show does not have a home. However, the developers are pitching it to premium cable and streaming services with the hope that one of them will pick it up. Given the director’s ties to Apple TV+, maybe he can convince the studio to pick the show up. By the way, Apple TV+ recently unveiled the trailer for its upcoming movie Emancipation starring Will Smith.
