Pulp fiction? Scorsese’s US$70 million Macau casino blockbuster to premier in Busan backstreet

An inconspicuous cinema tucked at the back of a South Korean shopping mall is an unexpected setting for the world premiere of a new film by an Oscar-winning director, featuring some of cinemas biggest stars.

But this is just where Martin Scorsese’s The Audition starring Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, will debut on Saturday.

The idea for the film was conceived by Australian playboy billionaire James Packer to promote Studio City, the US$3.2 billion Hollywood-inspired casino he and his partner at Melco Crown Entertainment, Lawrence Ho, are building in Macau, and another similar project titled City of Dreams being built in Manila.

The 16-minute production features in the Short Film Showcase section at the 20th Busan International Film Festival.

It had been scheduled to show first at the Venice Film Festival and was one of the event’s most hotly anticipated screenings, but it was pulled from the programme at the last moment due to “technical problems”, according to a statement released by festival organisers.