# The 1970 cult classic movie Martin Scorsese was fired from: “I was trying to make a reputation”

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/the-1970-cult-classic-movie-martin-scorsese-was-fired-from-i-was-trying-to-make-a-reputation/
- Published: 2026-07-19T16:15:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-08-01T08:15:21+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-1970-cult-classic-movie-that-martin-scorsese-was-fired-from/
- Topics: Art, Culture, Entertainment, Film

## Key points

- Scorsese was fired from *The Honeymoon Killers* during production.
- Leonard Kastle returned to finish the 1970 cult film.
- The setback came early in Scorsese’s directing career.

## Summary

Martin Scorsese was reportedly dismissed from directing the 1970 cult film *The Honeymoon Killers*, an early setback before he became one of Hollywood’s most acclaimed filmmakers. The episode matters because it illustrates the difficult, commercially driven circumstances surrounding his early career and the risks he took to establish himself as a distinctive director.

Scorsese was hired after the original director, Leonard Kastle, was removed, but producers subsequently fired Scorsese after only a short period of filming. Kastle returned to complete the low-budget crime drama, which starred Shirley Stoler and Tony Lo Bianco and later developed a cult following; Scorsese later said he had been trying to build a reputation at the time.

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