Apparently filming The Amazing Spider-Man in Manhattan has put the British Andrew Garfield in a New York State of mind. The actor is about to collaborate with the unofficial documentarian of the Five Boroughs – Mr. Martin Scorsese – on the director’s long-gestating adaptation of Shusaku Endo’s Silence next summer.
Ironically, they’ll likely leave the island of Manhattan for the island nation of Japan to shoot the film, according to Variety, which breaks the story. Garfield would play Father Rodrigues, a 17th-century Portugese Jesuit priest who journeys to Japan when he learns that his mentor is wavering in his faith and contemplating leaving the Church. The mentor in the film has not been cast, though Variety reports that Ken Watanabe will play a translator who accompanies Garfield’s character on his mission.
Silence is expected to be a deep meditation on faith and Christianity, with the Last Temptation of Christ director admitting it will appeal to a smaller niche audience than, say, The Wolf of Wall Street, which he recently wrapped with Leonardo DiCaprio.
“Then again, it’s a thriller. Thriller meaning they are undercover,” Scorsese says of his largely-Japanese-language film. “I’m interested in this, whether it’s undercover priests or undercover cops.”
Scorsese’s film will be shopped around Cannes next week as it seeks international distribution deals. Variety says he has the financing he needs to shoot the picture, and a start date in mind for June 2014. He hints that singer-songwriter Robbie Robertson might be interested in scoring the project, which would draw its roots from Endo’s book – which Scorsese has been fighting to adapt for the better part of the last 25 years. As for Wolf, it will be in theaters later this year, while Garfield continues to shoot Spider-Man ahead of that film’s May 2014 release.
