Robert De Niro
in 'Ronin'"Frankie Machine" is alive again, despite earlier reports [1] that director Martin Scorsese was backing out of the project.

The story of a retired hit man (De Niro), who gets pulled back into the game, is being developed by Michael Mann, director of "Miami Vice" and "Heat." The latter also starred De Niro.

The New York Observer [2] also reports that an earlier draft of the script is receiving a major overhaul.

The film is based on Don Winslow's 2006 novel, "The Winter of Frankie Machine."

(Jorge Sosa is a staff writer for the Hutchinson Leader. He can be reached at sosa@hutchinsonleader.com [3])