Martin Scorsese plans adaptation of 'Silence' as his next film

After veering off into unfamiliar territory with Shutter Island and Hugo, it was expected that Martin Scorsese would slip back into the comfortable world of underworld crime stories and mob flicks. He recently signed on to direct The Snowman, a planned American remake of the Norwegian crime novel starring gritty detective Harry Hole. But it turns out that won't be next on the director's list, as he will be proceeding with his long gestating adaptation of Shusaku Endo's acclaimed 1966 novel, Silence.

Scorsese: I’m hoping to do Endo’s book next, Silence… Not hoping, we’re literally pulling all the elements together at this point. Also excited to do another HBO series on the Rock and Roll business in the 60s, 70s up to the 90s and that’s with Mick Jagger and Terry Winter.

Scorsese revealed that while doing some press for Hugo on a show hosted by Simon Mayo and Mark Kermode. Staying far away from his comfort zone yet again, the story centers on a Jesuit missionary sent to 17th century Japan, only to find that Christians have been persecuted and driven underground( Kakure Kirishitan).

Daniel Day-Lewis, Gael Garcia Bernal, and Benicio Del Toro have long been attached to the project, but it remains to be seen if that will turn out to be the case now. Day-Lewis is probably too deep into Steven Spielberg's Lincoln biopic to be involved, but we shall see.  Silence has been adapted into a feature film once before back in 1971's Chinmoku, directed by Masahiro Shinoda and co-written by Endo. [BleedingCool]