Thursday, October 2, 2008

Scorsese, De Niro Nuff Said

This is one long overdue reunion! Robert De Niro & Martin Scorsese are to join forces again to make 'I Heard You Paint Houses', the book about the mob assassin who many believe was involved in the death of Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa.

Variety reports that Scorsese is attached to direct with De Niro playing Frank "the Irishman" Sheeran, who is reputed to have carried out more than 25 mob murders. The flick will be produced by Scorsese and Tribeca partners De Niro and Jane Rosenthal. Project landed at Paramount through the overall deal that the studio has with Scorsese’s Sikelia Prods.

The description of the book is, "I Heard you Paint Houses" are the first words Jimmy Hoffa ever spoke to Frank "the Irishman" Sheeran. To paint a house is to kill a man. The paint is the blood that splatters on the walls and floors. In the course of nearly five years of recorded interviews Frank Sheeran confessed to Charles Brandt that he handled more than twenty-five hits for the mob, and for his friend Hoffa. Sheeran learned to kill in the U.S. Army, where he saw an astonishing 411 days of active combat duty in Italy during World War II.

After returning home he became a hustler and hit man, working for legendary crime boss Russell Bufalino. Eventually he would rise to a position of such prominence that in a RICO suit then-U.S. Attorney Rudy Giuliani would name him as one of only two non-Italians on a list of 26 top mob figures. When Bufalino ordered Sheeran to kill Hoffa, he did the deed, knowing that if he had refused he would have been killed himself. Sheeran's important and fascinating story includes new information on other famous murders, and provides rare insight to a chapter in American history.

Scorsese, De Niro