Martin Scorsese to direct Silence next

Martin Scorsese's next project will be 'Silence'.

The 'Gangs of New York' filmmaker was recently reattached to work on 'The Wolf of Wall Street' - which follows the rise and fall of stock broker Jordan Belfort and is set to star Leonardo DiCaprio - but his publicist has confirmed that he will take on 'Silence' first.

The drama focuses on two 17th century Jesuit priests who face violence and persecution when they travel to Japan to locate their mentor and preach about Christianity.

'Silence' has been in development since 2006 and was due to star Daniel Day-Lewis, Benicio Del Toro and Gael Garcia Bernal, though it is unclear as yet whether they are still involved in the project.

'Age of Innocence' writer Jay Cocks is adapting the script from Shusaku Endo's original book.

Though it will be the director's next project, start dates are not yet known but he first needs to complete postproduction on his Paris-set fable 'Hugo Cabret'.

Work on 'The Wolf of Wall Street' - which had previously set to be directed by Ridley Scott - is scheduled to begin in June 2012.