Edward Norton on the 20-year making of 'Motherless Brooklyn'

Imagine finally finishing a film 20 years in the making! That's how long it has taken Edward Norton to see his newest creation, "Motherless Brooklyn," finally come together on the big screen.

Norton stopped by the ABC News studios to talk about completing the process.

"When something's been rattling around in your head for a long time, it is nice to get it out," Norton said on "Popcorn With Peter Travers." "It's saying the things I wanted to say. And I don't think it would have had the resonance that it has now, 10 years ago honestly."

Norton stars in and directs the film based on the novel by the same name, written by Jonathan Lethem. Norton was so intrigued by the story, he secured the rights to the project before the book was released in 1999. The film follows a private investigator with Tourette's syndrome who is trying to solve the murder of his mentor.

"In my case, I was there saying, look, I want to make a big, old-fashioned period epic about New York in the vane of 'The Godfather' or 'L.A. Confidential' or any of these great old-fashioned movie experiences that I think demonstrably audiences really love," he said.

Norton added, "I wanted to mash it up a bit with that idea of a hero who is very unusual, who has an unusual condition you've never seen before, that you feel empathy for him and the fact that you're immediately on his side, that's what pulls you through a murky, big fun story."

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"Putting out work that you do that you have a deep feeling for, it's always got a certain emotional risk," Norton said. "But what you come to understand is that films have an incredible capacity to ultimately get to people and they form their own relationship with people."

Watch the full interview with Peter Travers and Edward Norton in the video above.