Summary
- Martin Scorsese's next project is Killers of the Flower Moon, a Western crime drama starring Leonardo DiCaprio, marking their sixth collaboration.
- The movie release strategy has changed due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, resulting in a worldwide theatrical release on October 20, 2023.
- Killers of the Flower Moon is based on a true story and aims for historical accuracy, with involvement and support from the Osage community.
Martin Scorsese’s next project is Killers of the Flower Moon, a Western crime drama starring Leonardo DiCaprio, and the latest Killers of the Flower Moon news is setting up yet another critical hit for both. After doing something different with the fantasy movie Hugo, Scorsese returned to the crime genre with a touch of black comedy with The Wolf of Wall Street but took a break from the genre again with the historical drama Silence. Following the release of The Irishman, which reunited him with some of his frequent collaborators (Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Harvey Keitel). Martin Scorsese's next project is another crime movie, although one that's vastly different from anything he's done so far — the upcoming epically-scaled Killers of the Flower Moon.
However, Killers of the Flower Moon is no ordinary crime drama, as Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon is a Western. The movie also marks Scorsese's reunion with another of his frequent collaborators: Leonardo DiCaprio. DiCaprio and Scorsese joined forces for the first time in 2002 in Gangs of New York, and have worked together five times since then, most notably in The Departed and The Wolf of Wall Street. Killers of the Flower Moon will also bring back the Scorsese-De Niro duo in a story that fits the director’s style perfectly as all Killers of the Flower Moon news teasing the movie before its 2023 release date shows.
The Latest Killers Of The Flower Moon News
The most recent Killer of the Flower Moon news is Apple's Killers of the Flower Moon release strategy. The movie was originally scheduled for a limited release on October 6, 2023, but Killers of the Flower Moon has been delayed by two weeks and will be released on October 20 instead. However, instead of having a limited release, Killers of the Flower Moon will be released theatrically worldwide on its new release date. While no reason for this new strategy was given by Apple, it's likely because of the SAG-AFTRA strike.
Because actors are on strike, the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro can't help promote Killers of the Flower Moon. Given the type of movie that Killers of the Flower Moon is, the movie needs promotion from the actors to become a success, as the star-power of the cast is where the cerebral historic crime drama finds broader appeal. However, releasing Killers of the Flower Moon in territories across the world at the same time could be a potential solution to the lack of promotion from the cast. With a worldwide Killers of the Flower Moon release, the movie will be treated like more of an event, will build hype, and could become a huge success thanks to word of mouth on social media.
Killers Of The Flower Moon Release Date
The Killers of the Flower Moon release date is October 20, 2023, which is when it will have its worldwide release exclusively in theaters. As Killers of the Flower Moon is financed by AppleTV+, the movie will be released on the streaming platform too. However, it isn't clear when the movie will be available to stream on AppleTV+, and as Apple is now totally committed to theatrical releases, the streaming release might not be until months after Killers of the Flower Moon's theatrical release.
Killers of the Flower Moon had its premiere at Cannes Film Festival. Killers of the Flower Moon is a critical hit and currently has a "fresh" 97% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 64 reviews. Only a couple of those logged reviews have been negative, with Kevin Maher's Times review being the most critical. Maher wrote, "The script, from Forrest Gump’s Eric Roth, begins to meander badly, dropping in and out of the murder narrative and ultimately saddling us with a villain in De Niro who’s not nearly villainous enough and a protagonist in DiCaprio who’s a borderline moron."
Killers of the Flower Moon was initially bought out to be made all the way back in 2016, with the announcement that Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Robert De Niro were involved with the Killers of the Flower Moon adaptation. Filming was supposed to start in 2018 but was delayed to 2019, with Scorsese deciding to take on The Irishman first. Killers of the Flower Moon was then set back again due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After battling it out over funding, Apple TV+ agreed to co-finance and co-distribute Killers of the Flower Moon with Paramount. Principal photography finally began on Killers of the Flower Moon in April 2021.
Killers Of The Flower Moon Cast
The Killers of the Flower Moon cast went through some minor changes during pre-production. The character of Tom White, the FBI agent who leads the investigation, was written for Leonardo DiCaprio (Don't Look Up), but he asked to have his role changed to that of Ernest Burkhart. Jesse Plemons (The Irishman) was then cast as Tom White and DiCaprio as Ernest, and they are joined in the Killers of the Flower Moon cast by Robert De Niro (Amsterdam) as William Hale and Lily Gladstone (Billions) as Mollie Burkhart.
Tantoo Cardinal (Dances With Wolves) will play Lizzie Q, and Jason Isbell (A Star is Born) takes on the role of Bill Smith in the Killers of the Flower Moon cast. Sturgill Simpson (The Hunt) plays Henry Grammer, and Tatanka Means (Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials) will be John Wren. Academy Award-winning actor Brendan Fraser (The Whale) was a last-minute addition to the Killers of the Flower Moon cast, and he will be taking on the part of lawyer WS Hamilton. John Lithgow (Love is Strange) was also a late addition and will be playing Prosecutor Leaward.
Killers Of The Flower Moon Story Details
Killers of the Flower Moon news reports that the movie should follow the book pretty closely. The movie is based on the nonfiction book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann. In the book, Grann investigates a series of murders of wealthy Osage people that took place in Osage County, Oklahoma, in the early 1920s after oil deposits were discovered in their land. As the Osage people prepared to receive the wealth to which they were legally entitled from sales of the oil deposits, the administrators of the land had other ideas.
As will be detailed in Killers of the Flower Moon, corporate interests and local government had a history of bad relations with the Osage community, and decided they could simplify their profit-mongering of the oil profits by eliminating those they considered operated as the "middle man" — and those were the Osage people. William Hale was one of the masterminds behind the plan to murder the Osage people, and his nephew, Ernest Burkhart, was a key player. Scorcese reportedly has been working closely with the Osage people since the inception of Eric Roth's Killers of the Flower Moon script. In addition, the production was praised by writer David Grann. This should give audiences high hopes that Scorcese's version of events should be both respectful and faithful to history.
How Historically Accurate Is The New Martin Scorsese Movie
Jim Gray is a direct descendant of Henry Roan, one of the murder victims of the Osage murders who features in Killers of the Flower Moon, and in recent Killers of the Flower Moon news, Gray addressed the historical accuracy of the movie. In a glowing chain of tweets, Gray showered Killers of the Flower Moon with praise for its historical accuracy and sensitivity to real-world Indigenous cultures. After working with Scorsese and being screened Killers of the Flower Moon privately, Gray explained, "The script was rewritten during the shutdown caused by the pandemic in 2020. This led to major changes in casting as well. These changes brought the Osage closer to the heart of the story than about the birth of the FBI."
Gray added, "The Chief appointed representatives to consult with the filmmakers and offered up the reservation to shoot the film on location, use our language speakers, hire our folks in front and behind the camera." This is all corroborated in the Killers of the Flower Moon Cannes Film Festival Q&A too (via YouTube). Gray also mentioned, "Language was beautifully spoken by all of the actors especially the non-Osage actors," which could be referring to De Niro, who reportedly tried his hardest with the language.
Killers Of The Flower Moon Trailer
The newest Killers of the Flower Moon trailer reveals how central Ernest and Mollie's romance is to the premise, which is interesting given that the romance is entirely fictional but inside a tragic true story. In that respect, with DiCaprio in the lead role, Killers of the Flower Moon feels a little like Titanic. Robert De Niro also has a strong presence in the trailer, feeling like an almost villainous character at the center of it. Among some of the other key Killers of the Flower Moon cast members shown, Brendan Fraser continues his comeback, while Jesse Plemons can be seen as the lawman questioning Burkhart.
The Killers of the Flower Moon footage shows off the epic scale of Scorsese's latest without diving too much into the story. The teaser opens with Osage people dancing and celebrating as oil erupts from the land with slow-motion and foreboding music that suggests this moment of happiness will be short-lived. The Killers of the Flower Moon footage then explores the uneasy cultural clashes between the Oscar people and the wealthy white people who come to profit off their oil-rich land. The footage grows in tension and violence with the repeated phrase said by Burkhart "can you spot the wolves in this picture?"