Los Angeles: Martin Scorsese and writer William Monahan are teaming up for the remake of the 1974 film, The Gambler, based on a short novel by Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
The duo are developing a remake of movie starring James Caan as an English professor with a gambling addiction. They want Leonardo DiCaprio to star, The Hollywood Reporter said.
Irwin Winkler, who produced the original, will again act as producer of the new film. The 1974 movie revolved around a New York English professor who inspires his students but suffers from a secret gambling addiction.
The affliction causes him to extort money from his mother and convince one of his students to shave points in a basketball game. Caan received a Golden Globe nomination for best actor for his performance in the original. Lauren Hutton and Paul Sorvino co-starred for director Karel Reisz.
The gritty New York setting of the original seems a perfect match for Scorsese, who teamed with Monahan on 2006 best picture Oscar winner The Departed.
The director has been especially active lately. He has his first family film, Hugo, slated for a Thanksgiving release, and he’s preparing to direct Silence, an adaptation of the Shusaku Endo novel.
He’s also attached to The Wolf of Wall Street, an adaptation of the Jordan Belfort memoir that stars DiCaprio, with whom Scorsese collaborated on Shutter Island and other movies. (PTI)