Martin Scorsese revealed in an upcoming Apple TV+ documentary that studio pressure to sanitize his 1976 masterpiece Taxi Driver drove him to contemplate drastic measures.
The revelation comes from Mr. Scorsese, a five-part documentary series premiering on October 17 that chronicles the acclaimed director’s career through personal archives and interviews with longtime collaborators.
According to fellow director Steven Spielberg, who appears in the documentary, Scorsese contacted him in distress when studio executives demanded significant cuts to the film’s violent sequences.
Spielberg recounted receiving an agitated phone call from his colleague.
“Steve, Steve, it’s Marty, Steve. Can you come over to the house?” Spielberg remembered Scorsese saying.
“They want me to cut all the blood spurting, they want me to cut all the blood spurting, they want me to cut the guy who loses his hand.”
When asked directly in the documentary whether he possessed a firearm during this period, Scorsese denied ownership but acknowledged making threats about acquiring one.
“I was going to get one,” Scorsese admitted. “But I wasn’t going to get it, really?”
The Oscar-winning director elaborated on his emotional state during the studio confrontation, describing feelings of desperation and anger that led to extreme rhetoric.
“I was angry and said I’m going to threaten them or maybe just shoot or something, I had no idea, I mean I was threatening,” Scorsese explained.
“What I wanted to do, and not with a gun, I would go in, find out where the rough cut is and break the windows and take it away.”
Scorsese’s frustration stemmed from his belief that studio interference would compromise his artistic vision entirely.
“They’re going to destroy the film anyway, you know, so let me destroy it,” he said. “I’ll destroy it, but before destroying it, I’m going to steal it.”