Goncharov, the “Martin Scorsese film with Robert De Niro” that never existed: how it was possible

Thousands of Tumblr users have made posters, soundtracks, drawings, and more for a 1973 Martin Scorsese film starring Robert De Niro. The problem is that this movie never existed.

Released in 1973, Scorsese’s unknown film would cast Robert De Niro as Goncharov, “a former club owner who comes to Naples after the fall of the Soviet Union” with the goal of becoming a mob boss.

Harvey Keitel would play Andrey (or Andrei) “The Banker” Daddano, and Gene Hackman would play Valery Michailov; Al Pacino would appear as Mario Ambrosini, and Cybill Shepherd would play Goncharov’s wife Katya.

A few years ago, a Tumblr user posted a photo of some “imitation boots” he had ordered online, and they had a very strange label that read: “Greatest mob movie ever made. Martin Scorsese presents GONCHAROV, produced by Domenico Proccacci. About the mafia in Naples”.

Goncharov “regained” his popularity in 2020

This was largely ignored until 2020, when another Tumblr user replied to a comment made on the original post: ‘This idiot hasn’t seen Goncharov’.

The Internet does indeed work in mysterious ways: earlier this month, Tumblr user beelzeebub made a fake poster for the film, and tens of thousands of people began distributing it. And just like that, a new Scorsese film was born, one that never existed.

And then it all went haywire.

Now there’s also a trailer, a soundtrack and a fake VHS. What’s more, “experts” have written essays analyzing the film, published in trade magazines.

Basically, it would be appropriate for Martin Scorsese to go ahead and make the film, since fans have already spared him some expense.