Joe Pesci May Be Pulling Out Of THE IRISHMAN

Remember, like, two weeks ago, when we reported that Martin Scorsese had lined up Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci for his next gangster epic, The Irishman? And remember how we were like, "Scorsese and company are taking that call sheet and heading to Cannes, where they'll hopefully secure financing for the project at the Cannes Marketplace"?

Well, guess what: they did secure financing! According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gaston Pavlovich's Fabrica de Cine will foot the film's $100M tab (which is being mitigated by $50M tossed in by STX Entertainment, for foreign rights).

So all's well that ends well, right? Ehhhhh:

...One question mark is the involvement of Joe Pesci. Sources say Pesci, who largely has retired from the film business, repeatedly has told Scorsese no, but the director remains hopeful that he can lure back his Goodfellas star.

That's a bummer for anyone who was hoping to see DeNiro and Pesci reunited under the Scorsese umbrella, but I'd imagine it's a real bummer for anyone who agreed to throw down, say, $50-100M on the project based (at least in part!) on The Irishman's advertised trio of headliners. It sounds as though this isn't a recent development, either - the implication here is that Pesci was not as onboard as those initial reports suggested - so one has to assume that Scorsese's giving himself pretty good odds for convincing Pesci to return to the fold. Right? UPDATE: we may have gone a bit too far in our speculation here. Let's walk that back a little!

Pesci, as you've probably noticed, has been absent from movie screens for some time (his last film was Taylor Hackford's Love Ranch, in 2010), and seems determined to stay retired. Prickishly determined, one might say, given recent events:

Last month Louis C.K. revealed he approached Pesci for Horace and Pete, and not only did he turn him down, but offered some stinging criticism (“I watched your stand-up, which I can tell you’re just trying, and you’re no good at it…quit that now”).

 Guess we'll just wait and see what happens. Personally, I'm pulling for Pesci to return. How do you guys feel about it?