Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio have collaborated on six feature films together, starting with Gangs of New York in 2002 and most recently Killers of the Flower Moon in 2023. Their next reunion is believed to be a film adaptation of Peter Cameron’s ghost story novel, What Happens at Night, marking a return to the psychological thriller/horror genre following the pair’s 2010 film Shutter Island. However, given the large number of unrealized projects Scorsese has had to his name over the years, some fans wondered whether the duo’s newest team-up would ever make it beyond the early development stages, but fear not: What Happens at Night has received an exciting update that indicates it is making steady progress in the right direction.
Jennifer Lawrence, who previously starred opposite DiCaprio in the Netflix film Don’t Look Up, is on board to lead What Happens at Night with her former co-star. The actress provided a highly sought-after update on the Scorsese-helmed project while speaking to IndieWire about Lynne Ramsay’s Die My Love, which made it sound like things are, at the very least, moving forward. Lawrence suggested that cameras should be ready to start rolling by early next year, but she wouldn’t commit to pinning down an exact production start date. “Hopefully, a January/February situation,” she said before adding a shadow of skepticism to her statement, “But one never knows with these things. I’ll believe it when I’m there. We’re going to dig in.”
News of Scorsese choosing What Happens at Night as his next project surfaced in September, with the project said to be in “early development” at the time. It had already lined up its key players, with DiCaprio and Lawrence starring as a married couple. The two spouses travel to Europe to adopt a baby, but their plans get derailed when they check into a strange and secluded hotel, where they encounter several enigmatic characters. The story is based on Cameron’s 2020 novel of the same name, which has been adapted for the screen by Patrick Marbet (Notes on a Scandal). The book’s synopsis reads:
“An unnamed American couple travels to a strange, snowy European city to adopt a baby. It’s a difficult journey that leaves the wife, who is struggling with cancer, desperately weak, and her husband worries that her illness will prevent the orphanage from releasing their child. On arrival, the couple checks into the cavernous and eerily deserted Borgarfjaroasysla Grand Imperial Hotel, where the bar is always open, and the lobby populated with an enigmatic cast of characters ranging from an ancient, flamboyant chanteuse to a debauched businessman to an enigmatic faith healer. Nothing is as it seems in this baffling, frozen world, and the more the couple struggles to claim their baby, the less they seem to know about their marriage, themselves, and life itself.”
More to come…
