Scorsese Joins Schrader's Venice Drama As EP — SkimNews
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- Paul Schrader wrote and directed "The Basics of Philosophy," a drama charting a repressed philosophy professor (Jack Huston) whose past victim suddenly returns to his life; the film premieres out of competition at Venice Film Festival
- Martin Scorsese boarded as executive producer, his second time serving as EP on a Schrader project after the 2021 Venice entry "The Card Counter"; the pair previously collaborated on Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and The Last Temptation of Christ
- Noora Films joined to handle international sales, with boss Pia Patatian calling the film "exactly the kind of bold, elevated project" Noora wants to be associated with; Noora previously repped sales on Schrader's Cannes competition title "Oh, Canada"
- CAA Media Finance is representing U.S. rights to the film
- Jack Huston stars alongside Sofia Boutella, Daniel Zovatto, Bill Pullman, Dana Delany, Shiloh Fernandez, and Karl Glusman in the cast Schrader has assembled
- The project is part of Schrader's "man in a room" series that began with his Taxi Driver script and includes First Reformed, The Card Counter, and Master Gardener
- Braxton Pope (Film Maudit) and David Wulf (Redline Entertainment) are producing, both previously teaming with Schrader on The Card Counter, which Focus Features released
Why it matters: The Scorsese-Schader reunion — built on Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and The Last Temptation of Christ — adds marquee credibility to Schrader's philosophical "man in a room" series, with CAA on U.S. rights and Noora Films on international sales signaling real commercial confidence before Venice. For Schrader, this is now his second straight Venice feature (after Card Counter) backed by Scorsese, cementing the veteran writer-director as a festival-circuit mainstay.
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