The Big Picture
Last year, it was announced that Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio would be collaborating yet again on the harrowing drama, The Wager. The film will make the seventh time the duo have worked together, most recently in Killers of the Flower Moon, which will be released in theatres later this week.
Now, in a new interview with The Times of London, Scorsese has confirmed he will be filming The Wager as his next project. The film appears to have become the top priority among Scorsese’s planned projects, which include a Jerry Garcia biopic starring Jonah Hill, a Teddy Roosevelt biopic led by DiCaprio, an adaptation of Marilynne Robinson’s novel “Home,” and his previously hinted-at Jesus film.
Scorsese will work alongside Apple Original Films on the film, which is based on the New York Times’ bestseller David Grann’s eighth novel The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder. Apple are also backing the legendary director on Killers of the Flower Moon.
What is “The Wager”?
“The Wager” is a historical story set in the early 1740s, about a group of 30 men who arrive via a makeshift boat in Brazil. These men are starving and emaciated and have survived a very dangerous journey. They claim to be the remains of the crew from a British ship called the Wager, which was ordered to follow a Spanish warship carrying a valuable treasure known as “the prize of all the oceans.” While pursuing this treasure, the Wager crashed on a deserted island near Patagonia, leaving the crew stranded and struggling to find food and shelter. They managed to build a raft and sailed over 2,500 miles through stormy seas for more than three months before being celebrated as heroes when they reached Brazil.
Six months later, another beaten-up boat, even more damaged than the first, arrives on the shores of Chile. Three survivors who come with it have a different, darker story about what happened on that island. They accuse the initial 30 survivors of rebelling against the ship’s leadership. These accusations lead to a deadly dispute that reveals the chaos and conflict that occurred among the crew while they were stuck on the island. In the end, the Admiralty, which is like the British Navy’s leadership, decides to hold a trial to uncover the truth, and those found guilty could face execution by hanging.
Killers of the Flower Moon will be released on October 20. Collider will have further information on The Wager when it becomes available.
