The Big Picture

• The Audition is a star-studded 16-minute short film that cleverly combines art and advertising, with Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Brad Pitt among the cast to promote the opening of Studio City casino in Macau.
• The film humorously depicts the rivalry between DiCaprio and De Niro as they compete for a role in Scorsese's next movie.
• The film humanizes these celebrities and provides innocent fun while commenting on the quirks of their celebrity status. Fortunately, any on-screen beef was put to rest, as they have since collaborated on Killers of the Flower Moon.

Before he was directing uniquely cinematic ads for the 2024 Super Bowl, Martin Scorsese proved back in 2015 that his artistic prowess extends into the realm of sneaky sales pitches. Art and advertising have rarely merged as seamlessly as they did in this odd short film, the likes of which also has the distinction of being one of the most expensive ever made. Starring none other than Scorsese himself, Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, and (the cherry on top) Brad Pitt, The Audition came in at a whopping budget of $70M (for context, that’s about as much as the estimated budget for Saving Private Ryan).

The crew proves just as stacked as the faces in front of the camera, with The Wolf of Wall Street scribe Terence Winters penning the script, Rush Hour director Brett Ratner producing, and Oscar nominees Rodrigo Prieto and Kevin Trent on cinematography and editing duties respectively. But how exactly did this little-seen 16-minute short film gather such an impressive ensemble of talent, and most importantly, who in their right mind was mad enough to fund all of this?

What Is Martin Scorsese's 'The Audition' About?

As stated above, this gargantuan short is far from an artistic passion project or the template proof-of-concept for a feature as so many shorts tend to be. Rather, the film was a sly bit of advertising from Melco Crown Entertainment to raise awareness for the opening of Studio City, a casino in Macau. This was all in an attempt to exploit a legal loophole regarding an enforced ban on advertising casinos in mainland China. That ban, however, doesn’t pertain to films, leading to the commissioning of this gem, which instead played ahead of feature films in Hong Kong and China. Though no one necessarily likes the prospect of waiting an extra 16 minutes before the film actually begins, it’s safe to assume that the immensity of the talent on screen would have left some audiences confused about whether they were in the wrong theater but also rather content with the prospect of two A-listers duking it out on the big screen.

It is important to note ahead of viewing The Audition that every recognizable face in the film plays themselves in a delightfully humorous fashion. Not since Ocean’s Twelve has there been such an impressive collection of good-looking men just hanging out, though, in The Audition, these actors/characters are at each other’s throats in a manner that deftly draws attention to and pokes fun at their celebrity statuses. Opening in Manila at the City of Dreams Resort (owned by… you guessed it, Melco Crown Entertainment), the film introduces itself through the arrival of two cars, one driving DiCaprio and the other driving De Niro. Both unknowingly read the same script, which they quickly hide from one another, only to discover that they’ve both lied to each other about where they’d be. The reason? They’re both competing (or “vying,” as director Scorsese eloquently puts it) for the same role in Scorsese’s next movie, and in a humorous fashion, proceed to attempt to one-up each other by proving their knowledge of gambling (DiCaprio clearly has no idea how to play blackjack) while throwing snappy insults.

It's a hilarious premise and while one can envision a feature-length scenario with several escalating acts of sabotage and high jinks, the film’s punchline instead opts for another celebrity cameo from the likes of Brad Pitt, who comes in after Scorsese has an epiphany from seeing one of his billboards. The short and sweet project only took about two days for the stars to film, but with big casino money backing them, each walked away from The Audition with $13M paychecks. That’s the kind of money that only advertising can buy, though this particular commercial, thankfully, had its fair share of narrative bite.

'The Audition' Bakes Advertising Into Its Plot

Outside the entertainment value of watching some of the most recognizable faces in the world act petty over who gets to be in their favorite director’s next film, if there’s any artistic merit that The Audition displays, it’s in the way that it manages to advertise several resorts and their amenities without breaking character. There’s no Wayne’s World product placement montage that breaks the narrative to show off the resorts’ features; however, watching the film will likely give anyone a good sense of what fun can be had at said resorts. Even their travels from Manila to Macau to Japan are justified through the fact that they’re key locations in Scorsese’s fictional upcoming feature. The three all but take us on a tour through the resorts, as they bicker in the casinos and dining halls, showing off the lavish luxury that awaits any customer with the wallet for it — though it's worth noting that the Studio City casino seen is in fact a 3D rendering, as the casino itself had yet to complete construction.

The sense of meta-advertising peaks at the very end of The Audition, when De Niro and DiCaprio attempt to make amends after watching their mentor Scorsese sit down at a table with Brad Pitt, scripts in hand. There, they have a little conversation about what to do together, planning on grabbing dinner, hitting the tables, and going to the spa all in one. DiCaprio mentions a special treatment where they wrap the customer’s entire face and body in seaweed, to which De Niro’s only response is: “How do you breathe?” The dysfunctional dynamic between them is maintained as the two titans are repeatedly proven to be unable to communicate with one another, highlighting the efficacy of Scorsese’s blend of advertising and narrative filmmaking. He calls attention to the product without worshiping it, commenting on the ridiculousness of certain aspects and making fun of it as required, allowing the film to exist separately from what it’s actually advertising.

De Niro and DiCaprio Have No Problem Making Fun of Themselves in 'The Audition'

Fans love to imagine scenarios between celebrities and the rivalries between them (just look at what a fuss the Spider-Men group chat caused), with DiCaprio and De Niro’s being of particular interest due to their relationships with Scorsese (at the time, De Niro had made eight films with Scorsese, while DiCaprio had made five). When tensions escalate between them, the two refrain from holding back as De Niro comments on his dislike for DiCaprio’s iconic off-camera grizzly man beard, stating that he was making masterpieces with Scorsese before DiCaprio was even thought of. DiCaprio fires back by telling him that De Niro's too old and makes fun of him for being hard of hearing, after which Scorsese chimes in with a “too far.” Even in the end, as Pitt delivers a horrendous audition of Scorsese’s script, the dumbfounded look on the director’s face is priceless and highlights just how enjoyable watching one’s favorite celebrities collide with one another can be.

Not a single member of this cast or crew is acting outside the awareness that they’re all just collecting a fat check from a casino, which is part of what makes the film so much innocent fun. It humanizes these legends of the screen in showing to its audience the great sense of humor these actors have, while shamelessly commenting on the quirks of their celebrity status (in classic Brad Pitt fashion, he’s introduced eating a cup of noodles). Of course, there’s no malice between anyone onboard, with DiCaprio actually crediting De Niro for kick-starting his career (a reference to This Boy’s Life, one of the few feature-length DiCaprio/De Niro collaborations that resulted in De Niro linking DiCaprio up with Scorsese to begin with). Fortunately, Scorsese, DiCaprio, and De Niro got to put all the beef behind them with 2023's much-lauded Killers of the Flower Moon, leading to that fabled reunion fans have been waiting for.

The Audition is not currently streaming, but it is available to watch on YouTube. Killers of the Flower Moon is available to stream on Apple TV+ in the U.S.

Watch on Apple TV+