Martin Scorsese To Adapt ‘What Happens At Night,’ Leonardo DiCaprio And Jennifer Lawrence in Talks
Courtesy of Noam Galai.
Martin Scorsese has officially lined up his next directing project, with Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence set to star. Production is expected to kick off in January on an adaptation of ‘What Happens at Night,’ the ghostly novel by Peter Cameron. Apple Original Films is in talks to co-finance and produce alongside Studiocanal, which developed the script.
The news arrives as DiCaprio readies for the release of ‘One Battle After Another,’ opening next weekend to glowing early reviews and awards chatter for director Paul Thomas Anderson. Apple feels like a natural fit for Scorsese’s new film, having previously partnered with the filmmaker and DiCaprio on ‘Killers of the Flower Moon.’ The company also maintains first-look pacts with Scorsese’s Sikelia banner and DiCaprio’s Appian Way.
Playwright and screenwriter Patrick Marber adapted ‘What Happens at Night’ after Studiocanal secured the rights in spring 2023. At first, Scorsese was only attached as a producer while weighing potential follow-ups to ‘Killers of the Flower Moon.’ Meanwhile, DiCaprio had been circling other possibilities—including Damien Chazelle’s Evel Knievel biopic—before the stars aligned on this project, which now unites three Oscar winners with Lawrence rounding out the lead cast.
The novel tells the story of an American couple traveling to a remote, snowy European town to adopt a child. They check into a vast, nearly empty hotel, where they encounter a surreal gallery of figures: a flamboyant singer, a corrupt businessman, and a magnetic faith healer. As the couple struggles to bring their baby home, the more they find themselves questioning not just the world around them but also their own marriage and identities.
The eerie, dreamlike tone recalls Scorsese and DiCaprio’s earlier collaboration on ‘Shutter Island,’ another adaptation rooted in psychological mystery.
Lawrence, for her part, recently starred opposite Robert Pattinson in Lynne Ramsay’s Die, My Love, with Scorsese also serving as a producer. The film premiered at Cannes, where Mubi acquired distribution and is planning a November release.
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