Netflix's 'The Irishman' to be released in limited theatres, says De Niro

Screen legend Robert De Niro has revealed that Martin Scorsese-directed "The Irishman" will get a limited theatrical release.

According to The Independent, the Jimmy Hoffa disappearance film, which reunites the trio of De Niro, actor Joe Pesci and Scorsese after 22 years, will be released by Netflix next year.

"We've talked about it with Netflix. They are going to do a presentation of our film the way it should be, in a theatre, in certain venues, the best theatrical venues there can be.

"How they resolve it is, in the beginning, they will show it on the big screen, we're talking about big venues where it would play, where it should play, and what happens after that I'm not sure," De Niro said on the sidelines of Marrakech Film Festival.

Scorsese talked about his collaboration with the streaming giant, saying Netflix is "taking risks" with the movie.

"'The Irishman' is a risky film. No one else wanted to fund the pic for five to seven years. And of course we're all getting older. Netflix took the risk," he said.

The production began on the mob drama in 2016 and Netflix later acquired worldwide rights to the film.

Based on Charles Brandt's book "I Heard You Paint Houses", the film marks the ninth collaboration between De Niro and Scorsese.

Hoffa was an American labour union leader and author who served as the President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) union from 1958 until 1971. He vanished in July 1975 outside a Detroit restaurant and was declared legally dead in 1982 after never being seen again.

"The Irishman" also stars Al Pacino, Ray Romano, Bobby Cannavale, Jack Huston, Harvey Keitel and Stephen Graham who will play Genovese mob boss Tony "Pro" Provenzano a top associate of Hoffa.

The film's release date has been pushed back to the second half of 2019.