ET spoke with the actor at the Los Angeles premiere of his new movie, 'The Irishman.'
Martin Scorsese is standing by his previous comments made about Marvel movies.
Earlier this month, the legendary director said that the superhero films were "not cinema," which was met with a slew of reactions from Marvel fans, as well as the blockbusters' helmers. ET's Lauren Zima caught up with Scorsese at the Los Angeles premiere of his new film, The Irishman, on Thursday, where he further explained his comments, saying that it's more about other films losing out on being played at theaters over superhero films.
"Well, look, the point is, in terms of this film, Netflix, theaters, what I'm talking about really are films that are made," he began. "Let's say a family wants to go to an amusement park, that's a good thing, you know. And at themes and parks there's these cinematic expressions. They're a new art form. It's something different from films that are shown normally in theaters, that's all."
"For them, my concern is losing the screens to massive theme park films, which I say again, they're [their] own new art form," Scorsese continued. "Cinema now is changing. We have so many venues, there are so many ways to make films. So enjoyable. Fine, go and it's an event and it's great to go to an event like an amusement park, but don't crowd out Greta Gerwig and don't crowd out Paul Thomas Anderson and Noah Baumbach and those people, just don't, in terms of theaters."
Scorsese's original comments were made to Empire magazine. "I don’t see them. I tried, you know? But that’s not cinema," Scorsese expressed. "Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks. It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being."
Francis Ford Coppola later chimed in, adding that he agreed with Scorsese's comments, while Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn responded to the criticism, tweeting: "Martin Scorsese is one of my 5 favorite living filmmakers. I was outraged when people picketed The Last Temptation of Christ without having seen the film. I'm saddened that he's now judging my films in the same way."
Meanwhile, Scorsese's latest picture, The Irishman, is about organized crime in a post-war America told through the perspective of a hustler and hitman, Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro). Exploring the inner workings of illegal enterprises, the film chronicles one of the country’s greatest unsolved mysteries: the 1975 disappearance of union boss Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino).
"We knew, De Niro and I, over the years, the last film we had made together was Casino. It was 1995 and we really felt, over the years, that we wanted to make one more picture, at least one more," the famed director told ET. "But it took us a while to find the right story, the right character I should say."
"And he came up with this book, this Charles Brandt book, I Heard You Paint Houses," he continued. "And he was so taken by the character and when he described it to me, I grabbed the book right away, read it and I said, 'I think we can do this.'"
The Irishman hits select theaters on Nov. 1, and premieres on Netflix Nov. 27. For more on the film, watch below.
RELATED CONTENT:
