'Silence,' Martin Scorsese's 26-Year Film Project, to Debut

Twenty-six long years after Martin Scorsese and Jay Cocks made a deal to co-write "Silence," the movie will finally be released in December.

"Silence" has been the works since 1990 when Penta Pictures hired Scorsese and Cocks, promising them up to $400,000 plus 5 percent of net profits for writing the screenplay based on the novel by Shusaku Endo about Jesuit missionaries who face severe persecution in Japan, according to the New York Daily News. The movie stars Liam Neeson, Andrew Garfield, and Adam Driver.

After the project changed hands, new owners Cecchi Gori Pictures sued Scorsese because it seemed like he put the project on the back burner, working on films like “Gangs of New York” and “The Wolf of Wall Street” instead. Eventually, the lawsuits were resolved and the movie was moving forward.

In 2014, preproduction was almost shut down due to lack of funds, but more capital was secured and filming finally began in 2015.

More lawsuits ensued when Nicholas Kazan claimed he actually wrote the screenplay, but as post-production began, the parties were able to agree to an undisclosed settlement and avoid going to trial.

Currently, Cocks is listed as the screenwriter and there are seven or eight production companies listed, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Five out of Scorsese’s last six movies have been nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, and “The Departed” won that honor along with several others.

Pre-release buzz expects “Silence” may join the other five as a nominee, especially given the timing of the release, just before awards season.

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