Martin Scorsese’s ‘The Irishman’ Delayed Due to Digital De-Aging on Robert De Niro
By Claire Spellberg @c_spellberg
May 29, 2019 at 2:50pm

It’s taken years for Martin Scorsese‘s The Irishman to hit the big screen, but now, we finally know what has caused the delay: Robert De Niro’s wrinkles. In a new interview on A24’s podcast, A Bigger Canvas, Scorsese revealed that his highly-anticipated mob drama, which is expected to premiere on Netflix and in theaters later this fall, is undergoing a lengthy digital “youthification” process that will de-age De Niro and his co-stars Al Pacino and Joe Pesci. The Irishman director added that he’s “concerned” about the digital effect, as it seems to have altered the “intensity” and the “threat” in his actors’ eyes.

During the discussion with The Souvenir director Joanna Hogg, Scorsese revealed that The Irishman is shot primarily in 35mm film, but the choice has caused issues for the film’s post-production team. “We shot as much 35 as possible,” said Scorsese. “However, there’s a great deal of CGI because we’re doing this youthification of De Niro, Pesci, and Al Pacino. They had to be CGI. They had to be a camera with three lenses. I was just crazy.”

Scorsese went on to say that the process has left him nervous about the final product. “Why I’m concerned, we’re all concerned is that we’re so used to watching them as the older faces,” he said. Scorsese added that The Irishman “cuts back and forth” between various timelines to tell the story of Frank Sheeran (De Niro), a mob hitman who was involved in Teamster leader Jimmy Hoffa’s (Pacino) disappearance. According to IndieWire, the film will span multiple decades, which means that De Niro, Pacino, and Pesci (as mob boss Russell Bufalino) will appear up to 30 years younger at various points in the drama.

The famed director told Hogg that watching the final cut “all together” has helped him spot issues with the de-aging effect. “Now, it’s real. Now, I’m seeing it,” said Scorsese. “Now, certain shots need more work on the eyes, need more work on why these exactly the same eyes from the plate shot, but the wrinkles and things have changed. Does it change the eyes at all? If that’s the case, what was in the eyes that I liked? Was it intensity? Was it gravitas? Was it threat?”

Netflix has yet to announce an official release date for The Irishman, but it’s expected to premiere this fall. Tune in then to see if De Niro’s crow’s feet made the final cut.