Scorsese and De Niro reunite for mafia movie

'Goodfellas' director Martin Scorsese and the movie's star Robert De Niro are returning to the murky underworld of the New York mob for a new gangster film.

De Niro has signed to play Frank 'the Irishman' Sheeran in the Scorsese-directed project - based on the book 'I Heard You Paint Houses'.

Sheeran was a mafia assassin reputed to have carried out 25 murders. His victims are rumoured to include Teamsters union boss Jimmy Hoffa, who disappeared in 1975.

The book was written by Charles Brandt, who befriended Sheeran before his death in 2003. Brandt claims Sheeran confessed a number of killings, including Hoffa's.

The pair will also produce the movie with Paramount Pictures. 'Gangs of New York' and 'American Gangster' screenwriter Steve Zaillian has been hired to adapt the book, reports Daily Variety.