Scorsese, DiCaprio Together Again

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Filmmaker Martin Scorsese’s weekend appearance at the 7th annual Marrakech Film Festival is just the latest in a long line of pit stops in the African country.

Thursday, December 6, 2007 at 10:30 AM
By FilmStew Staff

 

Filmmaker Martin Scorsese has long had an affinity for both the country of Morocco as a filming location and as host of the annual Marrakech Film Festival, which launched in 2000.
He shot The Last Temptation of Christ and Kundun there, and in 2005 taught a master filmmaking class at the Marrakech event while also accepting a Lifetime Achievement Award. Now it is his frequent collaborator Leonardo DiCaprio’s turn, to whom a special tribute will be paid this Saturday, December 8th.
No doubt the fact that DiCaprio is on location presently in Morocco filming Body of Lies with Russell Crowe for Ridley Scott figured into his selection as a tribute target. But regardless of the convenience aspects of the selection, Scorsese will also be there to say a few words about his Gangs of New York, Aviator and Departed star. Should the possible Scorsese-DiCaprio projects The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, Shutter Island and The Wolf of Wall Street all come to pass in the next few years, the pair will be well on their way to catching up to the eight live action collaborations made by Scorsese with Robert De Niro.
At one point, DiCaprio was tapped for an Alexander the Great biopic slated to shoot in Morocco. But first, the location was changed due to the fear of terrorist attacks, and then the project itself went south altogether.