Martin Scorsese Adds a Biopic About The Ramones to His To-Do List

While he's currently working on a series about the 70s music scene for HBO, Martin Scorsese has his eye on another fixture of the era: punk icons The Ramones. Following the recent passing of last surviving original member Tommy Ramone, Scorsese is now interested in directing a biopic on the legendary band.

The news comes from Billboard, which reports that Scorsese is attached to direct a biopic about the band, following the death of last surviving original member Tommy Ramone. The various estates of each of the members have now all been reunited, which means that in 2016 -- which marks the 40th anniversary of their first album -- we'll be seeing remastered records, a book, a theatrical play, and much more.

This also means the inevitable biopic is in the works -- but there are few directors better suited for the task than Scorsese, who has plenty of firsthand experience with 70s New York, the birthplace of The Ramones. Scorsese also previously directed the Rolling Stones concert documentary 'Shine a Light,' and was one of the camera operators on their harrowing 1970 documentary 'Gimme Shelter.' (He's also been known to use their songs frequently in his work.)

In addition, Scorsese directed 'The Last Waltz' and the Bob Dylan film 'No Direction Home' -- so while you might presume that a Ramones documentary would be more his speed, a biopic isn't out of the realm of possibility, and a Scorsese biopic about a legendary New York 70s punk band is a far better prospect than the typical generic, paint by numbers musician biopics that we're used to seeing year after year.

While 2016 seems to be the target year for a lot of this Ramones stuff, don't hold your breath for Scorsese's film hitting theaters that soon -- his next project is 'Silence,' which is slated to hit theaters in 2015, and it's unlikely that he'd shoot two films so close together. In addition, he's still working on his 70s rock 'n' roll series with Mick Jagger for HBO, as well as the recently announced 'Shutter Island' series 'Ashecliffe.'

Then there's that 'Sinatra' film he's wanted to make for years, as well as the long-talked-about 'The Irishman,' which would reunite Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci. So he'll get around to it. Eventually.