After nearly dying from a drug overdose, Scorsese agreed to make the film, not only to save his own life but also to save his career. The book was even shown to producers Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler by De Niro, who were willing to assist only if Scorsese agreed. It was something I couldn't, wouldn't grasp.' His overall opinion of sport in general is, 'Anything with a ball, no good.' The book was then passed onto Mardik Martin, the film's eventual co-screenwriter, who said 'the trouble is the damn thing has been done a hundred times before-a fighter who has trouble with his brother and his wife and the mob is after him'.

Never a sports fan, when he found out what LaMotta used to do for a living, he said, 'A boxer? I don't like boxing.Even as a kid, I always thought that boxing was boring. Scorsese repeatedly turned down the opportunity to direct the film, claiming he had no idea what Raging Bull was about, even though he had read some of the text.

He showed the book to Martin Scorsese on the set of Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore in the hope that he would consider the project. Although disappointed by the book's writing style, he became fascinated by the character of Jake LaMotta. Raging Bull came about when De Niro read the autobiography upon which the film is based on the set of The Godfather Part II.

Raging bull movie