‘The Audition’ Is The Martin Scorsese / Leonardo DiCaprio / Robert De Niro Collaboration You’ve Never Seen … Until Now

Before Martin Scorsese teamed up with Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro for Killers of the Flower Moon, he directed the two actors in the $70 million short film The Audition, which premiered in 2015. But unlike Killers, which clocks in at three hours and 26 minutes, this project has a tight runtime of 15 minutes, making it the perfect, easy-breezy watch for those on a time crunch. Or perhaps, those needing to take a potty break or two during his supersized 2023 release.

Basically an advertisement, The Audition was created to promote the casino resort Studio City in Macau, China. Therefore, the short never received a wide release and was instead screened at the grand opening of Studio City and at the Busan International Film Festival in South Korea, before being shown ahead of feature screenings in China.

In a slight show of drama, the movie was set to screen at the Venice Film Festival, but was pulled due to “technical problems.” Many suspected that the screening was canceled because of creative differences, as the movie was funded by the casino as a promotional act.

At the moment, The Audition can be found on YouTube.

The Audition is quite the meta work as Scorsese, DiCaprio, and De Niro all play heightened versions of themselves, along with Brad Pitt. The short follows DiCaprio and De Niro, both frequent collaborators of Scorsese, vying for the same role in the director’s new project. 

At first, the two believe they have both been cast in the fictional movie as co-stars – which would’ve been a first in Scorsese’s filmography – but then the famed director reveals that they are both after the same part. In the end, neither succeeds in wowing him and they are outshined by another Hollywood star. 

In the past, Scorsese has worked regularly with the two actors. DiCaprio has starred in six of his feature films, including Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, Shutter Island, The Wolf of Wall Street, and Killers of the Flower Moon. Meanwhile, De Niro has appeared in ten of Scorsese’s feature films, including Killers with DiCaprio: Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, New York New York, Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, Goodfellas, Cape Fear, Casino, and The Irishman.

The Audition doesn’t have the same acclaim as any of the aforementioned movies and failed to garner any sort of real conversation or reaction from critics and fans upon its release, despite its $70 million budget. Though, some might disagree. One viewer recently wrote on Letterboxd, “When I eventually rank all of Martin Scorsese’s films I will likely put this above Raging Bull and you can’t stop me.”

But, despite what anybody says, the short does feel like an advertisement, because, at its core, it is one — even if the Venice Film Festival director claimed, “It’s a Scorsese film, not a commercial. The casino paid for the film, but it’s not in the film at all.” Just maybe, next time, Scorsese will remember this project next time he goes to make a jab at Marvel and the “death of cinema,” but I digress.

For now, interested viewers should check out his wacky short as a pregame for Killers or in increments during your 206-minute viewing experience, since it’s bound to require a pee break or two. The joy of The Audition is that nothing overly exciting happens that’ll leave you wondering about what happens next, and the movie doesn’t require an abundance of attention. It merely shows the boys being boys, which may be a needed relief amind the intensity of Scorsese’s newest movie.