Liam Neeson, Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver to star in Martin Scorsese's 'Silence'

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- Fábrica de Cine and SharpSword Films have announced they will produce and finance Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese's Silence, a period drama to star Liam Neeson, Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver.

Gastón Pavlovich will produce the film with executive producers Dale Brown, Matthew Malek and Tyler Zacharia.

Scorsese and Emma Tillinger Koskoff will also produce, alongside Randall Emmett, Irwin Winkler and Barbara DeFina. George Furla and Chad Verdi will executive produce. Silence began pre-production in November, and is scheduled to start principal photography in Taiwan on Jan. 30.

Based on the novel of the same name by Shusaku Endo, the film follows 17th-century Portuguese Jesuits who face intense persecution during their mission to isolated Japan. "I've wanted to make Silence for almost two decades, and it is finally a reality," Scorsese said in a statement Thursday. "It is heartening to have adventurous partners like Fabrica and Sharpsword to work with on this picture." Silence will be domestically distributed by Paramount with foreign markets distributed by AI Films/IM Global. The film is slated for a 2016 release. "Fábrica de Cine is pleased to be involved in producing and financing a project of such high caliber, and directed by someone we so greatly respect," added Pavlovich, head of Fábrica de Cine.