Martin Scorsese’s upcoming Western crime dramaKillers of the Flower Moon, originally expected to be a major contender at the next Oscars, has been delayed until well into 2023.
TheApple TV Plusfilm will depict the real-life case of the Osage murders in the 1920s, in which prominent and wealthy members of the Native American Osage tribe were mysteriously murdered after oil was discovered on their land. The case was one of the first for the FBI (then called the Bureau of Investigation, or BOI) and was led by a young J. Edgar Hoover.
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Deadline first reported the news, and it was later expanded on by Variety.Scorsese’sKillers of the Flower Moonis eying a premiere at Cannes Film Festival in May 2023 rather than a premiere this year. Scorsese’s latest film was actually expected to release in 2023 originally, but distributor Apple TV Plus moved the timeline up after Will Smith’s assault on Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards. Given the fallout over the Oscars incident, Smith’s slavery dramaEmancipationwas placed in release date limbo, and Apple asked Scorsese to release his film early to fill the gap in the company’s 2022 lineup. However, it’s now clear thatKillers of the Flower Moonsimply won’t be ready this year, and its release was once again moved back to 2023.
The film is based on the 2017 best-selling nonfiction book of the same name by David Grann and willstar Leonardo DiCaprio(Titanic,The Wolf of Wall Street,The Revenant), Robert DeNiro (The Taxi Driver,Raging Bull,The Irishman), Jesse Plemons (I’m Thinking of Ending Things,The Power of the Dog), and Lily Gladstone (First Cow). It will be the most expensive movie ever filmed in Oklahoma, with a budget of $200 million.Killers of the Flower Moonwill mark Martin Scorsese’s second time working on a film for a streaming service. His first wasThe Irishman, made in 2019 for Netflix, which came close to clinching the Big Red N its first ever Best Picture win but ultimately lost out to Bong Joon-ho’sParasite.
Killers of the Flower Moonis expected to premiere at Cannes in May 2023 and receive a theatrical release shortly after.
