Martin Scorsese almost left Hollywood after Gangs of New York

The filmmaker remembers the whims and angry behavior of producer Harvey Weinstein.

Gangs of New York is the eighteenth feature-length fiction film by the master Martin Scorsesereleased in 2002, with Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz And Liam Neeson to the casting. The film is inspired by the eponymous book by Herbert Asbury, published in 1927. It recounts the violent confrontation between two New York gangs during the second half of the 19th century (between 1846 and 1863).

Daniel Day-Lewis plays Bill the Butcher, the leader of the Bowery Boys, nationalist bandits refusing to see immigrants land on American soil. Facing him, Leonardo DiCaprioin the shoes of Amsterdam Vallon, a young Irishman wanting to avenge the death of his father (Liam Neeson), murdered by Bill the Butcher and former leader of the Dead Rabbits, the Bowery Boys’ rival gang. In his long interview for GQthe filmmaker returns to this chaotic experience.

From its pre-production, the project is already subject to complications. Scorsese showed an interest in Asbury’s book as early as 1970, but was only able to launch production of the film in 2002, following a succession of disputes between the studios who wanted to get their hands on it. It is ultimately the infamous Harvey Weinsteinand his company Miramax, which will ensure the proper financing of the film.

Although he was not yet known for his sex crimes at the time, Harvey Weinstein already had quite a reputation in Hollywood. Difficult, angry, capricious… his unpredictable temperament almost led to Scorsese to stop Gangs of New Yorkbut also to completely stop making films because he had committed to a multiple contract with Weinstein : “I realized that I couldn’t work if I had to make films again in these conditions. (…) If this was the only way I was allowed to make films, then I had to stop. Because the result was not satisfactory. It was an extremely difficult time and I would not have survived it. I’d be dead. So, I decided it was over.”

Among the conflicts which opposed Weinstein has Scorsesemaking filming very difficult (compiled in an article by The Independent), the producer would have shown up on the set of Gangs of New York to speed up production and prevent the director from working at his own pace. But when Weinstein started attacking the script, first by trying to make costume changes, then by mentioning that he didn’t like the name “Dead Rabbits” for one of the gangs (which actually existed and was called that), it was too much for Scorsese. The director flew into a rage and left the set for a whole day.

Fortunately for us spectators, this bad experience did not signify the early retirement of the filmmaker, since he presents his new Killers of the Flower Moon (his 25th fiction film) which will be released in theaters on October 18, 2023.

Gangs of New York told by Leonardo DiCaprio in Premiere