Martin Scorsese had a long-enduring partnership with Warner Brothers before he decided he could no longer make any deals with them. Fans would remember how the veteran filmmaker slammed blockbusters such as Marvel movies, proving he isn’t a huge fan of franchises.
This is the main reason why he severed his ties with the studio, apart from the executives who meddled with his creative vision for the 2006 film The Departed. What exactly did Warner Brothers tell Scorsese?
Martin Scorsese Recalled Feud With Warner Brothers
In a recent interview, The Irishman director Martin Scorsese revealed his rift with Warner Brothers began when they objected to his film’s ending. The Departed boasted an A-list cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, and Mark Wahlberg.
The finale would get both DiCaprio’s and Damon’s characters killed off. Warner Brothers insisted one of them should survive for a sequel to be possible. This made Scorsese very upset as he explained to GQ:
“What they wanted was a franchise. It wasn’t about a moral issue of a person living or dying.”
The filmmaker recalled a test screening where everyone left the room feeling ecstatic, except for the people from Warner Brothers. He continued:
“And then the studio guys walked out, and they were very sad because they just didn’t want that movie. They wanted the franchise. Which means: I can’t work here anymore.”
Scorsese had a significant connection with Warner Brothers as they distributed his first two studio movies: Mean Streets (1973) and Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974). He also worked with them for After Hours (1985), Goodfellas (1990), and The Aviator (2004). After The Departed, he called it quits.
Martin Scorsese Doesn’t Make Movies For The Awards
The Departed won Martin Scorsese his first and only Oscar. Although he has been nominated for Best Director several times, he does not put a premium on it. In the same conversation with GQ, he shared:
“When I didn’t get the Oscar, I understood that that wasn’t my lot in life. But I always said this: just be quiet and make the movies. You can’t make a movie for an award. Sure, I would’ve liked it, but like, so what? I mean, I had to go on and make pictures.”
Still, he did not disregard the recognition. In fact, winning the Oscar inspired him to create Shutter Island (2010), a psychological thriller film starring Leonardo DiCaprio. This time, it was distributed by Paramount Pictures.
