Veteran actor Robert De Niro says mob movie 'The Irishman' is still in works and he is looking forward to the project.

The 70-year-old was supposed to portray real-life union official-turned-mafia hitman Frank 'The Irishman' Sheeran in the biopic back in 2010 and the shooting was expected to start the following year.

The movie has not gone on floors yet, but De Niro still hopes to reunite with director Martin Scorsese and co-stars Al Pacino and Joe Pesci, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

"We have been trying to do (the film) for the last few years, and I think we will do it...That's something I'm looking forward to very much...I think it will (happen)... We're really working towards making it happen," De Niro told art magazine Flatt.

"The Irishman" will be based on author Charles Brandt's 2004 book "I Heard You Paint Houses", in which Sheeran detailed his alleged murder of mafia leader Jimmy Hoffa.