Hollywood director Martin Scorsese is planning to make his next movie in New Zealand, according to international reports.
Daniel Day-Lewis, Gael Garcia Bernal and Benicio Del Toro are among actors being considered for the adaptation of Shusaku Endo's 1966 novel Chinmoku (Silence), Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported.
Thebook is about Japan's brutal persecution of Christians during the 17th century.
It tells the story of a young idealistic Jesuit priest, Sebastion Rodrigues, from Portugal who lands on the shores of Nagasaki and the subsequent punishment inflicted on those he converted.
The Asahi newspaper reported Oscar-winning art director Dante Ferretti, who is close to Scorsese, and producer E Bennett Walsh this week visited the Nagasaki Museum of History and Culture to research the film.
Oscar-winner Scorsese plans to start shooting in New Zealand later this year and expects the film to reach cinemas next year, the Asahi reported.
His many hits include The Departed, Gangs of New York, The Aviator, Taxi Driver, Goodfellas and Raging Bull.
