Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio are frequent collaborators in cinema, with DiCaprio appearing in six feature films and one short film made by Scorsese since 2002. The films explore a variety of genres, including historical epic, crime, thriller, biopic, comedy and western. Several have been listed on many critics' year-end top ten and best-of-decade lists.
The duo's films have been nominated for thirty-one Academy Awards, winning nine. In 2013, the duo was awarded National Board of Review Spotlight award for career collaboration. Scorsese's work with DiCaprio is considered to be as vital as his work with Robert De Niro. [1] [2]
The pair's relationship is one of the most financially successful collaborations in the film industry, bringing a total of $1.3 billion earnings from their five feature films. DiCaprio considered Taxi Driver and Mean Streets his inspirations among Scorsese's previous work. Discussing his collaboration he said, "I am almost about to turn 40, and I am looking back at some of the stuff I've gotten to do, and at the center of it is this amazing accidental collaboration that I've gotten to have with Marty." [3] Scorsese heard about DiCaprio from De Niro, who worked with then 18-year-old DiCaprio in This Boy's Life , and mentioned his work to Scorsese as "impressive." Describing his first collaboration with Scorsese on Gangs of New York , he said, "It was an incredible undertaking." [4]
DiCaprio thanked Scorsese in his acceptance speech at 88th Academy Awards while accepting the Academy Award for Best Actor, saying "I have to thank everyone from the very onset of my career...to Mr. Jones for casting me in my first film to Mr. Scorsese for teaching me so much about the cinematic art form." [5]
Title | Release date | Studio | Budget | Gross | Rotten Tomatoes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gangs of New York | December 20, 2002 | Miramax and Touchstone Pictures | $100 million | $193 million | 75% [6] |
The Aviator | December 25, 2004 | Warner Bros. and Miramax | $110 million | $213 million | 87% [7] |
The Departed | October 6, 2006 | Warner Bros. | $90 million | $289 million | 91% [8] |
Shutter Island | February 19, 2010 | Paramount Pictures | $80 million | $294 million | 69% [9] |
The Wolf of Wall Street | December 25, 2013 | $100 million | $392 million | 77% [10] | |
The Audition | October 27, 2015 | Melco Crown Entertainment Limited | $70 million | - | - |
Killers of the Flower Moon | October 20, 2023 | Apple TV+ / Paramount Pictures [11] | $200 million | $156 million | 95% [12] |
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 (amongst many others) major Italian directors such as Luchino Visconti and filmed in its entirety at Rome's famous Cinecittà film studios.
With a production budget said to be in excess of $100 million, Gangs of New York was Scorsese's biggest and arguably most mainstream venture to date. The film marked the first collaboration between Scorsese and DiCaprio. Scorsese initially struggled selling his idea of the film until DiCaprio became interested in playing protagonist Amsterdam Vallon, a young leader of the Irish faction. Once DiCaprio was cast, Miramax Films agreed to finance the project. [13] The film received positive reviews and was a box office success, bolstering DiCaprio's reputation as one of Hollywood's preeminent talents. DiCaprio's acting was well-received, although it was somewhat overshadowed by co-star Daniel Day-Lewis' performance. [14] [15]
After Gangs of New York, the duo worked on the 2004 biopic The Aviator, with DiCaprio starring as aviation pioneer and filmmaker Howard Hughes. The film portrays Hughes' life between the late 1920s and late 1940s, during which time he became a successful film producer and an aviation magnate while simultaneously growing more unstable due to severe obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD).
The film was a huge commercial and critical success, earning 11 Oscar nominations at the 77th Academy Awards (the most for the ceremony that year). [16] [17] This included Best Picture, Best Director for Scorsese, and Best Actor for DiCaprio, his first in the lead actor category. DiCaprio won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance as Howard Hughes.
Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four stars out of four and described the film and its subject, Howard Hughes, in these terms: "What a sad man. What brief glory. What an enthralling film...There's a match here between Scorsese and his subject, perhaps because the director's own life journey allows him to see Howard Hughes with insight, sympathy – and, up to a point, with admiration. This is one of the year's best films." [18]
The duo's next collaboration, the 2006 crime drama The Departed, emerged as one of the most successful films in their respective careers. DiCaprio played the role of Billy Costigan, a state trooper working undercover in the Irish Mob in Boston. Highly anticipated after the pair's previous success, the film was released to overwhelmingly positive reviews and became one of the highest-rated wide release films of 2006. [19] Budgeted at US$90 million, it also emerged as DiCaprio and Scorsese's highest-grossing collaboration to date, easily beating The Aviator´s previous record of US$213.7 million. [20]
DiCaprio's performance in The Departed was applauded by critics and earned him a Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor. [21] The same year, both the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild nominated DiCaprio twice in the Best Actor category (he was also nominated for Blood Diamond ), however as Academy Award rules do not allow a person to be nominated twice in the same category, he was nominated only for Blood Diamond. [22] [23] [24] Scorsese won his first Best Director Oscar for The Departed, after six previous losses in the category; the film also took home Best Picture. [25] In 2008, The Departed was nominated for AFI's Top 10 Gangster Films list. [26]
2010's Shutter Island sees DiCaprio as U.S. Marshal Edward "Teddy" Daniels, who is investigating a psychiatric facility located on an island and comes to question his own sanity. Shutter Island originally received mixed to positive reviews, but was a financial success, and throughout the years became a cult classic.
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3½ stars out of 4 and wrote "the movie is about: atmosphere, ominous portents, the erosion of Teddy's confidence and even his identity. It's all done with flawless directorial command. Scorsese has fear to evoke, and he does it with many notes." [27]
In 2013, DiCaprio reunited with Scorsese for The Wolf of Wall Street. The film was based on the memoir of the same name by Jordan Belfort and recounts Belfort's career as a stockbroker and the rampant corruption and fraud on Wall Street that led to his downfall. The film was listed on many critics' Top Ten lists for both the year and the decade [28] and became Scorsese's highest-grossing film worldwide. [29] The film received five Academy Awards nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director for Scorsese. [30] DiCaprio won a Golden Globe Award For Best Actor - Musical or Comedy for his performance as Belfort and received his third Best Actor Oscar nomination; however, he lost to Matthew McConaughey.
Scorsese and Leonardo collaborated for The Audition, a 2015 short film that served as a promotional piece for casinos Studio City in Macau, China and City of Dreams in Manila, Philippines. The short film united Scorsese and DiCaprio with De Niro, who collaborated with Scorsese for the first time in two decades.
In October 2018, it was announced that DiCaprio and Scorsese were re-teaming for a film adaptation of David Grann's Killers of the Flower Moon , about the Osage Indian murders. In summer 2019, it was confirmed that Robert De Niro will star alongside DiCaprio. Shooting was postponed from its original start date due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but ultimately began in April 2021. [31] The film gained universal critical acclaim, ended up in many best of year and best of decade lists, and received ten Academy Awards nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director for Scorsese, and Best Actress for Lily Gladstone. Gladstone won a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actress.
Upcoming film based on a book by David Grann.
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American filmmaker. He emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He has received many accolades, including an Academy Award, four BAFTA Awards, three Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award, and three Golden Globe Awards. He has been honored with the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1997, the Film Society of Lincoln Center tribute in 1998, the Kennedy Center Honor in 2007, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2010, and the BAFTA Fellowship in 2012. Four of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer. Known for his work in biographical and period films, he is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and three Golden Globe Awards. As of 2019, his films have grossed over $7.2 billion worldwide, and he has been placed eight times in annual rankings of the world's highest-paid actors.
Gangs of New York is a 2002 American historical drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan, based on Herbert Asbury's 1927 book The Gangs of New York. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Cameron Diaz, along with Jim Broadbent, John C. Reilly, Henry Thomas, Stephen Graham, Eddie Marsan, Brendan Gleeson and Liam Neeson in supporting roles.
Sandy Powell is a British costume designer. In a career spanning over three decades, she is recognized for her prolific work across independent films and blockbusters. She has received numerous accolades, including three Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, and two Costume Designers Guild Awards. Powell was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to the film industry.
What's Eating Gilbert Grape is a 1993 American coming-of-age drama film directed by Lasse Hallström, and starring Johnny Depp, Juliette Lewis, Mary Steenburgen, Leonardo DiCaprio and John C. Reilly. The film follows the story of Gilbert, a 25-year-old grocery store clerk who is caring for his morbidly obese mother, as well as his autistic younger brother, Arnie. The film takes place in the fictional rural town of Endora, Iowa.
The Aviator is a 2004 American epic biographical drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by John Logan. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes, Cate Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn, and Kate Beckinsale as Ava Gardner. The supporting cast features Ian Holm, John C. Reilly, Alec Baldwin, Jude Law, Gwen Stefani, Kelli Garner, Matt Ross, Willem Dafoe, Alan Alda, and Edward Herrmann.
The Departed is a 2006 American epic crime thriller film film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan. It is both a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs and also loosely based on the real-life Boston Winter Hill Gang; the character Colin Sullivan is based on the corrupt FBI agent John Connolly, while the character Frank Costello is based on Irish-American gangster and crime boss Whitey Bulger. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Wahlberg, with Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga, Alec Baldwin, Anthony Anderson and James Badge Dale in supporting roles.
William J. Monahan is an American screenwriter and novelist. His second produced screenplay was The Departed, a film that earned him a Writers Guild of America Award and Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Shutter Island is a 2010 American neo-noir psychological thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is adapted by Laeta Kalogridis from the 2003 novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane, about a Deputy U.S. Marshal who comes to Shutter Island to investigate a psychiatric facility, after one of the patients goes missing. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo, with Ben Kingsley, Max von Sydow and Michelle Williams in supporting roles.
Robert Anthony De Niro is an American actor and film producer. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2009, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from U.S. President Barack Obama in 2016.
Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro are an American director-actor collaborative duo who have made ten feature films and one short film together since 1973. Many of them are often ranked among the greatest films of all time.
Appian Way Productions is a Los Angeles–based film and television production company founded in 2001 by actor and producer Leonardo DiCaprio. Jennifer Davisson serves as President of Production. Since its launch, Appian Way has released a diverse slate of films, including Academy Award–winning films The Aviator (2004) and The Revenant (2015), Academy Award–nominated films The Ides of March (2011) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), as well as the drama The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004), the comedy-drama Gardener of Eden (2007), the biographical crime drama Public Enemies (2009), the psychological horror Orphan (2009), the psychological thriller Shutter Island (2010), the crime dramas Out of the Furnace (2013) and Live by Night (2016), and the biographical drama Richard Jewell (2019). The company has also produced the series Greensburg (2008–2010), Frontiersman, and The Right Stuff (2020) for Disney+.
Leonardo DiCaprio is an American actor who began his career performing as a child on television. He appeared on the shows The New Lassie (1989) and Santa Barbara (1990) and also had long running roles in the comedy-drama Parenthood (1990) and the sitcom Growing Pains (1991). DiCaprio played Tobias "Toby" Wolff opposite Robert De Niro in the biographical coming-of-age drama This Boy's Life in 1993. In the same year, he had a supporting role as a developmentally disabled boy Arnie Grape in What's Eating Gilbert Grape, which earned him nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture. In 1995, DiCaprio played the leading roles of an American author Jim Carroll in The Basketball Diaries and the French poet Arthur Rimbaud in Total Eclipse. The following year he played Romeo Montague in the Baz Luhrmann-directed film Romeo + Juliet (1996). DiCaprio starred with Kate Winslet in the James Cameron-directed film Titanic (1997). The film became the highest grossing at the worldwide box-office, and made him famous globally. For his performance as Jack Dawson, he received the MTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance and his first nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama.
The Wolf of Wall Street is a 2013 American biographical black comedy film co-produced and directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Terence Winter, based on Jordan Belfort's 2007 memoir of the same name. It recounts Belfort's career as a stockbroker in New York City and how his firm, Stratton Oakmont, engaged in rampant corruption and fraud on Wall Street, leading to his downfall. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Belfort, Jonah Hill as his business partner and friend, Donnie Azoff, Margot Robbie as his second wife, Naomi Lapaglia, Matthew McConaughey as his mentor and former boss Mark Hanna, and Kyle Chandler as FBI agent Patrick Denham. It is DiCaprio's fifth collaboration with Scorsese.
Gianni Nunnari is an Italian film and television producer and executive.
Emma Tillinger Koskoff is an American film producer. She is best known for her collaborations with Martin Scorsese, including acting as a producer on his films The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), Silence (2016) and The Irishman (2019).
The Audition is a 2015 comedy short film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Terence Winter. It stars Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio, playing fictionalized versions of themselves, who travel through Asia and compete against each other for a potential role in Scorsese's next film. Brad Pitt, also playing a fictionalized version of himself, makes a cameo appearance.
Killers of the Flower Moon is a 2023 American epic Western crime drama film co-written, produced, and directed by Martin Scorsese. Eric Roth and Scorsese based their screenplay on the 2017 non-fiction book by David Grann. Set in 1920s Oklahoma, it focuses on a series of murders of Osage members and relations in the Osage Nation after oil was discovered on tribal land. The tribal members had retained mineral rights on their reservation, but a corrupt local political boss sought to steal the wealth.