Oscar winners Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro are to revisit the criminal underworld once more in a mob drama about a notorious contract killer.

The duo, who have teamed up on several hit crime movies before, including Goodfellas, Casino and Mean Streets, are to make a movie adaptation of I Heard You Paint Houses, Charles Brandt's book of the same name, reports said.

The book is based on the life of Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran, who is reputed to have carried out more than 25 killings for the mob, including the murder of Teamsters' union boss Jimmy Hoffa.

De Niro is set to play Sheeran in the film, Daily Variety reported, while Scorsese is to direct.

The title of the film comes from underworld slang for contract killings and the resulting splatter of blood on walls and floors.

Among the crimes Sheeran is said to have confessed to shortly before his death in 2003 is the killing of Hoffa, who disappeared in 1975 and was presumed murdered.