While De Niro has indeed never starred in a Lee joint, the two are longtime friends and admirers of each other’s work. In fact, Lee has said that he initially wanted De Niro to play the character Sal, from 1989’s Do the Right Thing. The two have also been producing partners in the past, including for a Manhattan-set HBO drama first announced back in 2009.
De Niro’s most recent Scorsese collaboration, meanwhile, is last year’s acclaimed Killers of the Flower Moon, widely discussed as one of the best films of 2023. Also in 2023, De Niro became a father again at the age of 79, welcoming his seventh child into the world.
Lee, who last directed the revered Da 5 Bloods for Netflix, is next set for the aforementioned High and Low for A24 and Apple. Denzel and Ice are joined in the cast by Ilfenesh Hadera, Jeffrey Wright, Dean Winters, and ASAP Rocky.
