Apple TV+ has dropped a first-look clip from Mr. Scorsese, the upcoming five-part documentary on legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese — and it features the director recalling a time he planned to “steal” Taxi Driver from the studio.
Watch the clip above and read on for more about the series.
Scorsese’s wild plan over Taxi Driver cuts
The sneak peek shows Martin Scorsese recalling the tense battle with the studio over the violent climax of his 1976 classic. As Scorsese tells it, executives wanted some of the bloodier moments cut — and he was prepared to go to extreme lengths to stop them.
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“I was angry, I said, I’m going to threaten them or maybe just shoot or something. I had no idea,” Scorsese says in the clip. “What I wanted to do, and not with a gun… I would go in, find out where the rough cut is, and break the windows, and take it away. They’re going to destroy the film anyway, you know. So let me destroy it. I’ll destroy it. But before destroying it, I’m going to steal it.”
Friend and fellow filmmaker Steven Spielberg recalls the phone call he received: “I get a call at the office. And he says, ‘Steve, Steve, it’s Marty. Yeah, can you come over to the house? They want me to cut all the blood spurting. They want me to cut the guy who loses his hand.’ And he was going crazy.”
The eventual compromise? Scorsese toned down the colour of the sequence to make the blood appear brown instead of red. “Saved the movie,” Spielberg says.
A deep dive into the life and career of a cinematic icon
Mr. Scorsese comes from acclaimed filmmaker Rebecca Miller (She Came to Me, Personal Velocity). The five-part Apple TV+ series examines how Scorsese’s life experiences have shaped his artistic vision, spanning from his earliest student films at NYU to his most recent work.
“This project is a filmmaker’s dream, to have had such access to legends of the industry, from Marty himself to his prolific collaborators, close friends and family members,” Miller said in the press release. “I was honoured he trusted me to create this documentary, which I believe will resonate with everyone from dedicated Scorsese fans to anyone who has grappled with failure and reached for stars.”
The series features extensive conversations with Scorsese, as well as new interviews with collaborators and friends including Robert De Niro, Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Thelma Schoonmaker, Sharon Stone, Jodie Foster, Paul Schrader, Margot Robbie, Cate Blanchett, Jay Cocks and Rodrigo Prieto. Family members, childhood friends, and musicians such as Mick Jagger and Robbie Robertson also appear.
With unprecedented access to Scorsese’s personal archives and an array of talent, Mr. Scorsese should prove a treat for fans of the filmmaker and movie buffs.
Mr. Scorsese premieres October 17 on Apple TV+.
