Martin Scorsese May Direct The Snowman

Variety has reported that Martin Scorsese is in early talks to direct an adaptation of Jo Nesbo’s bestselling mystery novel The Snowman. Scorsese is apparently “seriously considering helming the project” but nothing has been confirmed as of yet.

Working Title have the rights to the novel which Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner will produce. Matthew Michael Carnahan, the writer behind State Of Play and World War Z, is currently in talks to adapt the novel.

Scorsese is already set to direct an adaptation of another novel, Silence, which he has had in development for years. On top of this, he also has several other films in development including The Irishman, The Gambler and Sinatra. If he does decide to take The Snowman, it’s unclear how and when it will fit into his schedule.

The Snowman is the seventh of nine books in Jo Nesbo‘s series about detective Harry Hole. The synopsis for the novel reads:

“Oslo in November. The first snow of the season has fallen. A boy named Jonas wakes in the night to find his mother gone. Out his window, in the cold moonlight, he sees the snowman that inexplicably appeared in the yard earlier in the day. Around its neck is his mother’s pink scarf.

Hole suspects a link between a menacing letter he’s received and the disappearance of Jonas’s mother—and of perhaps a dozen other women, all of whom went missing on the day of a first snowfall. As his investigation deepens, something else emerges: he is becoming a pawn in an increasingly terrifying game whose rules are devised—and constantly revised—by the killer.”

While there are no reports linking Leonardo DiCaprio to the project, it wouldn’t surprise me if Scorsese brings him on board for the lead role. After all, the character of Harry Hole is described as “close-shaven blond hair, blue eyes, pale complexion” and “a classic loose cannon in the police force, with few close friends and some unorthodox methods.” A perfect role for Leo don’t you think?