Martin Scorsese Opens up About the Movie He Wishes He Never Made

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Martin Scorsese is known as a director who values clear, well-structured films, unlike some of his colleagues who experiment with more unconventional styles. Throughout his celebrated career, he’s been a careful storyteller, often working with skilled screenwriters like Paul Schrader and Nicholas Pileggi.

However, in the early 1980s, Scorsese faced a difficult time. He was creatively and physically exhausted while making films. The production of his 1982 comedy, The King of Comedy, was particularly challenging.

After finishing the demanding Raging Bull, Scorsese began work on the new film while battling pneumonia and feeling completely drained. He later confessed in his book, Scorsese on Scorsese, that he felt unprepared and was desperate to get out of the project just two weeks into filming. He described being so ill that he was coughing uncontrollably and felt like a tragic figure.

Despite his struggles, Scorsese remained involved. He praised the cast, especially Jerry Lewis, and found the rehearsals helpful, even though the film itself felt unusual. The shoot took a surprisingly long twenty weeks, and Scorsese took responsibility for the slow pace. He remembered scenes like Rupert Pupkin’s awkward home invasion as being incredibly difficult and upsetting for everyone involved.

Despite initially failing at the box office – earning only $2.5 million from a $19 million budget – The King of Comedy is now considered a remarkably prescient film. Many critics believe it accurately foreshadowed our modern fascination with fame and celebrity.

Today’s viewers connect with the film’s awkward humor and themes of loneliness, and it’s often cited as an inspiration for recent hits like Joker. Meanwhile, Martin Scorsese, at 83, continues to be a prolific filmmaker. He’s currently filming his latest project, What Happens at Night, in Prague.

This film will be Scorsese’s seventh time directing Leonardo DiCaprio and also features Jennifer Lawrence. The story follows an American couple trying to adopt a child who become stranded in a strangely empty European hotel. DiCaprio has said that Scorsese asked him to study Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo to help understand the film’s suspenseful and psychological atmosphere.

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2026-02-13 17:44