Scorsese's 'Shutter Island' site launches ... sort of

Oscar-winning director of "The Departed" Martin Scorsese and his golden boy Leonardo DiCaprio may be back in town next month filming re-shoot scenes for the movie "Ashecliffe" at the abandoned Medfield State Hospital located at 45 Hospital Rd.

Based on the epic novel "Shutter Island" by Dennis Lehane, the Boston-shot flick features DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo and Ben Kingsley and was shot in Taunton's Whittenton Mills Complex (recrafted as the horrific Nazi concentration camp Dachau) as well as the Medfield State Hospital and Peddocks Island. Other locales include Borderland State Park, Hyde Park and Wilson Mountain Reservation in Dedham.

Also, Paramount Pictures launched a placeholder page for the flick at www.shutterisland.com. While the site gives the basic lowdown, it does raise a question about the film's title. Does this mean that the director is opting to use Lehane's book title "Shutter Island" over the movie's reported working title of "Ashecliffe"?

Or is it because Jeff Coveney from Natick and the sneaky crew at HollywoodInTheHub.com snatched up the URL to www.ashecliffe.com in January '08?

"Ashecliffe," or is it "Shutter Island," is slotted for release on Oct. 2, 2009.