Robert De Niro, 80, will reprise his role as Taxi Driver and the film’s iconic “Are You Talking to Me?” Line in lucrative Uber ads to be filmed in London

Robert De Niro will reportedly reprise his lead role in Martin Scorsese’s 1976 classic Taxi Driver.

The 80-year-old actor will be back behind the wheel as Travis Bickle — or at least spout some of his signature lines — when he films a series of ads for Uber, The Sun reported on Tuesday.

According to a source, De Niro will repeat the widely quoted line “Are you talking to me?” As part of advertising.

DailyMail.com has reached out to De Niro’s representative for comment.

The news comes on the heels of De Niro’s recent forays into advertising, following several costly divorces and separation from the mothers of his seven children.

Taxi Driver is a staple film set in New York City, but Uber ads make a puzzling choice to film in London.

One source said the ad series was a “brilliant idea”, adding: “Taxi Driver is one of the most iconic films of all time.”

“But he’ll definitely get some stick for it too,” they continued.

The source noted that De Niro was channeling nostalgia into his star-making performance, although Taxi Driver is an unusually dark and violent film that could be pointed out in the ad.

“A lot of people feel like some of these classic films are his best work, and being involved in commercials sells a bit, but he clearly had an expensive personal life,” the source said.

De Niro was previously one of the faces of UK bakery brand Warburtons, which has also received celebrity endorsements from George Clooney, Sylvester Stallone and, most recently, Samuel L. Jackson.

In 2019, the Oscar winner appeared in a campaign for the aptly named Kia Niro electric car, and has also done ads for Santander Bank and American Express.

The recent spate of ads, which has been rare for the actor, may help fund his expensive divorce from second wife Grace Hightower. He filed for divorce from the philanthropist in 2018 after his marriage in 1997.

The two were required to sell their $20 million home, and De Niro’s alimony arrangement required him to pay her $1 million a year until one of them died or she remarried.

In 2021, his lawyer claimed that the legendary Raging Bull star was forced to take almost any role that came his way in order to pay for his divorce and alimony payments to his ex-wife, who may also be responsible for the recent spate of commercials.

The source indicated that De Niro will play “Travis Bickle”, his character in the movie Taxi Driver, and “say some phrases and play with them.”

They added, “His previous ads have shown that he has no problem making fun of himself.”

It’s possible that he might just use some key phrases from the character without necessarily playing the same role as Travis Bickle, who murders three mob-connected men after becoming obsessed with a 12-year-old girl named Iris who is being sexually trafficked for prostitution. Before he tried to shoot himself in the head to no avail.

Bickle also shoots and kills a man trying to rob a convenience store earlier in the film.

Although the character appears to evade any criminal prosecution for his gory killings, he is not treated as a hero, but rather presented as a dangerous, obsessive loner on the fringes of society.

The film also details another obsessive relationship with a woman, this time with a campaign worker (played by Sybill Shepherd) for a fictional presidential candidate.

When she rebuffed his deceitful advances, he crossed the line and attempted to assassinate the presidential candidate before eventually settling on “freeing” the sexually trafficked child.

The film was a huge critical and commercial success and is considered one of the greatest films of the 1970s and of all time.

The film, written by Paul Schrader, was the second collaboration between De Niro and director Martin Scorsese, who would work together several times on films including Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Casino and Cape Fear.

Their last encounter after decades apart was in the critically acclaimed mob drama The Irishman and in the upcoming film Killers Of The Flower Moon, based on the non-fiction book of the same name about an indigenous tribe systematically murdered by white members of the family. The community hopes to steal oil revenue reserves.

The insider added that Uber hopes to book other celebrities to appear as riders in the ads, although it is unclear whether they will star with De Niro or have their own commercials.