Martin Scorsese Institute to Be Established by NYU

Martin Scorsese appears at the 2020 AFI Awards in Los Angeles on Jan. 3, 2020. (AP)
Martin Scorsese appears at the 2020 AFI Awards in Los Angeles on Jan. 3, 2020. (AP)
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Martin Scorsese Institute to Be Established by NYU

Martin Scorsese appears at the 2020 AFI Awards in Los Angeles on Jan. 3, 2020. (AP)
Martin Scorsese appears at the 2020 AFI Awards in Los Angeles on Jan. 3, 2020. (AP)

Martin Scorsese’s alma mater, New York University, is establishing a film institute in his name after a gift from George Lucas and Mellody Hobson.

The formation of the Martin Scorsese Institute of Global Cinematic Arts was to be announced Tuesday by NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. The institute will include a virtual production center, the Martin Scorsese Department of Cinema Studies and support for student scholarships — with tuition assistance for those selected as “Scorsese scholars.”

A large donation from the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation — the nonprofit run by the “Star Wars” filmmaker and his wife, Hobson, co-chief executive of Ariel Investments and chairwoman of Starbucks Corporation — made the new institute possible.

“This is such a singular and remarkable honor for me, and I thank my old, dear friend George Lucas, his wife Mellody Hobson and their remarkable foundation for this honor,” Scorsese said in a statement. “Their generosity of spirit and deed is deeply moving for me, and doubly so since this state-of-the-art institute will be housed at my beloved alma mater, NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. I only wish that my parents were around to see this. They would have been so proud.”

Scorsese has a long history with NYU’s film program. As a student, he made his first short films there, including 1967′s “The Big Shave,” a six-minute Vietnam War allegory in which a young man shaves his face until it’s a bloody mess. Scorsese earned his masters at NYU in 1968 and continued after teaching undergraduate filmmaking. The school also gave him an honorary degree in 1992, and Scorsese currently sits on Tisch’s Dean’s Council.

Virtual production is a fast-evolving mode of moviemaking that endeavors to immerse filmmakers in a real-time digital sandbox by using technologies like game-engine software, motion capture and augmented or virtual reality. It puts actors and filmmakers into a soundstage environment where digital meets physical. While such effects are more closely associated with more spectacle-driven filmmakers, Scorsese used some of its tools in the de-aging process in “The Irishman.” He says virtual production represents “a quantum leap forward.”

“George and I have known one another for what seems like a lifetime, and he has always been driven to create new, imagined worlds on screen,” said Scorsese. “His urge — his obsession — is part of a tradition that begins with the cinema itself and the films of Georges Méliès. I suppose you could say that my own obsession grows out of the cinema’s other parallel tradition, which originates with the Lumière Brothers: exploring the mystery and the beauty and the strangeness of the world before us, of ongoing life.”

Lucas studied film at the University of Southern California and in 2006 gave the school’s film program gifts totaling $175 million — then USC’s richest donation ever. The Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation declined to share the amount of the NYU donation. The Scorsese institute is expected to launch next year, with the production center to follow at a later date.

In a joint statement, Hobson and Lucas said the Scorsese institute “deservedly highlights his legacy as a quintessential American filmmaker and will inspire generations of diverse, talented students.”



'Superman' Director James Gunn Remakes the Hero for the Big Screen

FILE PHOTO: Director James Gunn poses at a photo call for the film Superman in Culver City, California, US, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Director James Gunn poses at a photo call for the film Superman in Culver City, California, US, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
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'Superman' Director James Gunn Remakes the Hero for the Big Screen

FILE PHOTO: Director James Gunn poses at a photo call for the film Superman in Culver City, California, US, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Director James Gunn poses at a photo call for the film Superman in Culver City, California, US, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo

James Gunn, writer and director of the off-kilter "Guardians of the Galaxy" films, tussled with various ideas on how to deliver a new take on Superman to the big screen.

Gunn said he was aware of the many ways the noble hero had been approached since his 1938 debut, initially in comic books and then radio serials, television shows and movies.

The challenge was to deliver something fresh that would appeal to a new generation of moviegoers and reinvigorate Warner Bros Discovery's DC Studios.

His vision, in the movie titled simply "Superman," starts rolling out in international theaters on Wednesday and in the United States and Canada on Friday, Reuters reported.

In the opening scene, Superman, played for the first time by David Corenswet, is seen bloodied after a fight, an unusual portrayal for the Man of Steel.

"I wanted to take the character of Superman and just focus on a piece of him that we haven't necessarily seen before," Gunn said.

Gunn surrounded Superman with elements that enthralled him from the comics as a child. Superman lives in a world, Gunn said, with "superhero friends and giant monsters and flying dogs, robots and all this magical stuff."

The new film includes Superman's four-legged sidekick, a superpowered dog named Krypto first introduced in a 1955 comic. The latest version is based on Gunn's real-life, misbehaving rescue mutt.

Warner Bros is counting on "Superman" to start a new era at DC Studios, which has failed to match the superhero success of Walt Disney-owned Marvel. Gunn, who made the "Guardians" movies for Marvel, was named co-CEO of DC Studios, alongside producer Peter Safran, in 2022.

The pair have plotted a long-term slate that features a Supergirl movie for June 2026, a film based on Swamp Thing and TV shows for HBO Max. Wonder Woman and Batman also are expected to return to cinemas.

Gunn said the aesthetic that audiences see in "Superman" will not necessarily foreshadow future DC Studios endeavors. "I want to be really certain that every project has its own unique flavor," Gunn said.

"We're doing Clayface, and that doesn't feel like this movie. It's an R-rated horror movie. We're doing 'Lanterns,' which is an HBO show, which feels very much like an HBO show, very grounded, very kind of brutal. We have 'Peacemaker,' which is an adult show with a lot of emotion and a lot of comedy."

Gunn admitted he has felt the weight of responsibility to produce a hit.
"I've felt pressure all along," Gunn said. "That's been difficult."

But as he started to see initial reaction to the film, "I'm feeling pretty good," he said. "It's pretty fun. I'm seeing the effect the movie has on people."