Martin Scorsese once threatened to destroy his acclaimed 1976 film Taxi Driver after studio executives demanded cuts to its violent scenes. The revelation comes in the first look at Apple TV+’s upcoming documentary series about the director, titled Mr Scorsese.
Fellow filmmaker Steven Spielberg recounted a distressed call from Scorsese, who was "very upset" about being asked to reduce the film's graphic content. Recalling their conversation, Spielberg said: "’Steve, Steve, it’s Marty, Steve. Can you come over to the house?’ ‘They want me to cut all the blood spurting, they want me to cut all the blood spurting, they want me to cut the guy who loses his hand’."
While Scorsese denied having a gun at the time, he admitted to threatening to acquire one. "I was going to get one," Scorsese said. "But I wasn’t going to get it, really?" The Oscar winner added: "I was angry and said I’m going to threaten them or maybe just shoot or something, I had no idea, I mean I was threatening. What I wanted to do, and not with a gun, I would go in, find out where the rough cut is and break the windows and take it away. They’re going to destroy the film anyway, you know, so let me destroy it. I’ll destroy it but before destroying it I’m going to steal it."
Scorsese noted that Spielberg and others intervened, telling him: "’Marty, stop that, Marty, you can’t do that’." Ultimately, Scorsese resolved the issue by "toning the colour down" of the sequence in question, a solution Spielberg credits with having "saved the movie" by avoiding any cuts to the violence.
Taxi Driver, starring Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle, earned him his first Oscar nomination, with co-star Jodie Foster also nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
The five-part documentary series, directed by Rebecca Miller, features Scorsese’s personal archive and interviews with collaborators including Robert De Niro, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Leonardo DiCaprio. It traces the director’s journey from his time as a New York University student to the present day, exploring the themes that have shaped his work. The series is set to be released on the streaming platform on 17 October.
