<Tr> <Th> Budget </Th> <Td> $25 million </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Box office </Th> <Td> $46.8 million </Td> </Tr> <P> Goodfellas (stylized as GoodFellas) is a 1990 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese . It is an adaptation of the 1986 non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scorsese . The film narrates the rise and fall of mob associate Henry Hill and his friends and family over a period from 1955 to 1980 . </P> <P> Scorsese initially titled the film Wise Guy and postponed making it; later, he and Pileggi changed the title to Goodfellas . To prepare for their roles in the film, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Ray Liotta often spoke with Pileggi, who shared research material left over from writing the book . According to Pesci, improvisation and ad - libbing came out of rehearsals wherein Scorsese gave the actors freedom to do whatever they wanted . The director made transcripts of these sessions, took the lines he liked best and put them into a revised script, which the cast worked from during principal photography . </P>

Who were the characters in goodfellas based on