Scorsese to Direct Sinatra Biopic

Having tackled the lives of Jake la Motta, Jesus, and Howard Hughes, Martin Scorsese is now set to direct a biopic of Frank Sinatra. Scorsese's agreement to take on the Universal Pictures project helped win support from the Sinatra family after much wrangling, say insiders. The film will be based on a movie treatment of the crooner's life from Field of Dreams screenwriter Phil Alden Robinson.

Issues with Sinatra's family were ones of "comfort and trust," co-producer Cathy Schulman told the Hollywood Reporter. "Everybody who was in control of the rights had to unanimously agree to do this. And having Marty at the head of this was the thing that ultimately cracked the code." (More Frank Sinatra stories.)