Netflix has announced the theatrical release date and streaming launch for Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman.” The historical crime epic starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci will kick off its Oscars qualifying run in Los Angeles and New York movie theaters beginning Nov. 1, and four weeks later will launch globally on Netflix on Nov. 27, the day before Thanksgiving.
Netflix will also expand theatrical release in to-be-announced U.S. and in U.K. cities beginning Nov. 8, with additional U.S. and international cities to follow on Nov. 15 and Nov. 22.
“The Irishman” will hold its world premiere on the first night of the New York Film Festival on Friday, Sept. 27.
Netflix’s true-crime story, stars De Niro as a World War II veteran turned mafia hitman named Frank Sheeran. Pacino plays Jimmy Hoffa, the former president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, who went missing in 1975. Hoffa’s body was never found and his fate was speculated about for decades.
The film uses digital technology to de-age De Niro, Pacino and Joe Pesci.
Other co-stars include Harvey Keitel, Ray Romano, Bobby Cannavale, Anna Paquin, Stephen Graham, Stephanie Kurtzuba, Jack Huston, Kathrine Narducci, Jesse Plemons, Domenick Lombardozzi, Paul Herman, Gary Basaraba and Marin Ireland.
It’s the third time De Niro and Pacino have shared the screen, following 1995’s “Heat” and 2008’s “Righteous Kill.” (They also appeared, though not together, in “The Godfather, Part 2.”)
Written by Steven Zaillian based on Charles Brandt’s 2003 Sheeran biography “I Heard You Paint Houses,” “The Irishman” marks DeNiro’s ninth time working with Martin Scorsese; their previous collaborations include “Mean Streets,” “Taxi Driver,” “New York, New York,” “Raging Bull,” “The King of Comedy,” “Goodfellas,” “Cape Fear” and “Casino.” It’s the first time that Scorsese has directed Pacino.