Mark Wahlberg Wants Martin Scorsese to Direct a ‘Boardwalk Empire’ Movie

If Mark Wahlberg is pals with Martin Scorsese, then surely he must know that the director is pretty busy. Scorsese is currently working on ‘Silence,’ after which he has a rather ambitious to-do list (as usual). But Wahlberg wants to add another project to the growing pile of possibilities: a movie version of ‘Boardwalk Empire,’ the show produced by both Wahlberg and Scorsese, which just ended its run after five seasons on HBO.

Wahlberg has a pretty good producing relationship with HBO, having also produced ‘In Treatment’ and ‘Entourage’ (based loosely on his own experiences coming up in the business)—the latter of which concluded its run on the network in 2011, and has led to an upcoming (and long-awaited, depending on who you ask) film. The ‘Entourage’ movie trailer just dropped last week, and Wahlberg is already thinking of turning another one of his series into a film: ‘Boardwalk Empire.’

In an interview with NJ.com, Wahlberg expressed his intentions to make a ‘Boardwalk Empire’ movie with Scorsese:

My next goal now is to get the movie made and start talking to Martin Scorsese about directing it.

Scorsese directed the first episode and remained on as an executive producer throughout the entire five-season run of ‘Boardwalk Empire,’ which was created by ‘Sopranos’ vet and ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ writer Terence Winter. Winter and Scorsese are also currently working on an upcoming untitled rock ‘n’ roll drama for HBO with Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger.

In addition, Scorsese is also in production on ‘Silence,’ set to hit theaters next year, and he has a few different projects he might tackle next: there’s the long-gestating ‘The Irishman,’ which would reunite Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci with Scorsese for the third time, along with Al Pacino (who’s never starred in a Scorsese film, if you can believe it) co-starring; and there’s also been talk of Scorsese directing a biopic about seminal punk band the Ramones. Finally, there’s that Frank Sinatra biopic Scorsese’s been wanting to make for years.

On top of an upcoming TV series, one film in production, and three films he’d like to direct, Mark Wahlberg is hoping Scorsese can squeeze in a quick ‘Boardwalk Empire’ movie? (Insert laugh track here.)

And then there’s the basic question of how a ‘Boardwalk Empire’ film would even work? SPOILERS: Given that Steve Buscemi’s Nucky Thompson died in the final episode, would the film be a prequel to allow for Buscemi’s return, or would it follow Tommy Darmody’s life after the finale? A follow-up film seems a bit unnecessary, given that the series had a clear beginning and end, and that final season was fantastic.

Look, we get it. ‘Boardwalk Empire’ is great and we all wish we could have just a little more time in Atlantic City, but it’s for the best that we allow it to exist as is.