The Aviator's Irish links

The success of Martin Scorsese’s blockbusting The Aviator, the story of the colourful and eccentric Howard Hughes that has collected 11 Academy Award nominations, has a strong Irish connection.

Apart from Hughes Tool, one of his factories in Belfast, and apart from Leonardo DiCaprio playing Hughes and having starred in that other multi-Oscar winner, Titanic (built in Belfast), the screenplay for The Aviator was written by John Logan, whose parents came from Belfast.

Logan, who wrote Gladiator and The Last Samurai, is up for a statuette, along with Scorsese, DiCaprio and the film itself.