It was all the way back in 2006 that director Martin Scorsese first signed on to direct Silence, an adaptation of the acclaimed novel by Shusaku Endo, but only know is it finally becoming a reality. Following the immense success of The Wolf of Wall Street - which also happens to be his highest grossing feature ever - the filmmaker will finally make the period piece as his next movie - and apparently now he's discovered exactly where he wants to shoot it.
While the story of Silence is actually set in Japan, according to The Wrap the film's production will actually be taking place in Taiwan. The plan is to start filming on-location this summer, and, according to Taipei Film Commission director Jennifer Jao, the hope is for the entire movie to shoot in the Asian nation. The trade report says that part of what inspired Scorsese to choose the country as a location was seeing the success that fellow-Academy Award winner Ang Lee had while shooting Life of Pi there and receiving a personal recommendation. They also note that Taiwan was a colony of Japan for 50 years, and as a result has maintained very similar architecture.
Based on a script written by Jay Cocks, who previously worked with Scorsese on 2002's Gangs of New York, the new movie will be set in the 17th century and follow a pair of Jesuit priests who travel to Japan in the hopes of both spreading their faith and locating their mentor. Unfortunately, what they don't expect is the incredible amount of violence and persecution that they experience due to their religion. While Daniel Day-Lewis, Gael García Bernal and Benicio Del Toro were previously attached to the project in its earlier years of development, it's been confirmed that The Amazing Spider-Man star Andrew Garfield will star as one of the Jesuit priests, Father Rodrigues, and that Ken Watanabe will portray the Japanese translator who accompanies him on his mission. Also signed on to the project are both Girls' Adam Driver and Liam Neeson, but it has not yet been said what roles they will be playing (it's not too hard to believe that the former is playing Garfield's partner and Neeson is playing the mentor).
If production doesn't start up until the summer, that probably means that we won't get to see the finished product until 2015, meaning it will have to find its way into what is already a schedule crowded with blockbusters. No matter where it ends up, however, there will always be time to see a new movie from Martin Scorsese.
