Emily Blunt Teases Dwayne Johnson's Role in Martin Scorsese's Next Mob Epic — The Last Great American Mob Story

Martin Scorsese has a new crime epic brewing, and Emily Blunt just gave us the most intriguing tease yet. The short version: Dwayne Johnson is circling a role that sounds like a serious departure from his usual lane, and the whole thing is shaping up to be Scorsese doing what Scorsese does best.

The setup

Blunt says the untitled project is still in development and currently being written, but she could not hide her excitement about where it is headed or what Johnson gets to do in it. It also reunites her with Johnson while adding one of Scorsese's most reliable collaborators, Leonardo DiCaprio. Inside baseball alert: that mix of star power and pedigree is exactly the sort of lineup you expect when Marty decides to go back into the mob world.

"It is the last great American mob story, and I can‘t believe it hasn‘t been told yet... It‘s a terribly exciting role for [Johnson] to kind of dig into."

So who is Johnson playing?

When Johnson‘s casting first surfaced, the character was framed like this: think Robert De Niro‘s Jimmy the Gent from Goodfellas, but relocated to Hawaii and dialed up to a ruthless crime boss based on a real person. The story is set during a volatile stretch in the islands, with an ambitious figure battling rival factions to seize the Hawaiian underworld. If you‘re wondering whether that sounds like classic Scorsese turf with a fresh backdrop, you are not wrong.

The team behind it

Blunt and Johnson are already on-screen partners in The Smashing Machine, the Mark Kerr biopic that leans into Johnson‘s recent shift toward more dramatic material. They previously teamed on 2021‘s Jungle Cruise. DiCaprio is aboard here too, continuing his long run with Scorsese.

The script is coming from journalist Nick Bilton, which is a fun wrinkle; you don‘t always see a reporter-turned-screenwriter driving a big Scorsese crime saga, but the true-story angle makes that choice make sense.

Context check: Scorsese‘s last outing

This will be Scorsese‘s first feature since 2023‘s Killers of the Flower Moon, which starred DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, and Robert De Niro. That film unfolded in 1920s Oklahoma and centered on the murders of members of the Osage Nation over oil riches. Expect a different time and place here, but that same forensic look at power, greed, and violence feels baked in.

• Project: Untitled Scorsese crime drama set in Hawaii
• Status: In development; script being written
• Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Leonardo DiCaprio
• Johnson‘s role: A ruthless Hawaiian crime boss, inspired by a real figure
• Writer: Nick Bilton
• Scorsese‘s last film: Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
• Release date: Not announced

No release date yet, no official title, but the combination of Scorsese, DiCaprio, Blunt, and a dramatically pivoting Johnson is a lot of signal for something big. More when the pieces lock into place.