Director Martin Scorsese is most often associated with classic films about sages and gangsters. But with his next film The Moonflower Slayers, the director tackles a new genre with his very first western. The film, a journalist adaptation David Grann2017 nonfiction book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBItells the story of at least twenty murdered members of the Osage tribe in Oklahoma in 1920s Oklahoma.
The film rights to Grann’s book were sold in 2016 – a year before his book was even published – but it wasn’t until 2021 that filming for the highly anticipated film began. After a series of directors expressed interest in the project without officially signing on, Martin Scorsese was recruited. Production was scheduled to begin in March 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed filming until mid-2021. Here’s what we know about the project so far.
Who is part of the cast and crew behind Killers of the Flower Moon?
With Scorsese signed on to direct, he’s brought some familiar faces on board, including his longtime muses and collaborators on multiple projects. Leonardo DiCaprio (who also serves as producer on the film) and robert de niro.
There are probably few actor-director collaborations as successful or as famous as that of Scorsese and De Niro, who have made one short and nine feature films together since 1973. average streets. With de Niro starring and Scorsese directing, the duo have made award-winning movie classics such as Taxi driver, angry bull (which led to de Niro winning the Best Actor Oscar), Freedmen, Cape fear, Casinoand The Irishman. In The Moonflower Slayers, de Niro plays William Hale, the infamous cattle rancher suspected of arranging contracts with wealthy members of the Osage tribe. This film will be the tenth cinematic collaboration between Scorsese and de Niro, and it is likely to continue their impressive track record.
Scorsese’s collaboration with Leonardo DiCaprio is more recent, only beginning in 2002, but equally prestigious. Killers of the Flower Moon will mark the sixth collaboration between the director and the actor, who first worked together in New York Gangs in 2002. Their second film together, the aviatorresulted in DiCaprio’s first Best Actor Oscar nomination and Scorsese won his first and only Best Director Oscar for 2006 The dead. In The Moonflower SlayersDiCaprio plays Ernest Burkhart, Hale’s nephew who struggles with conflicting loyalties to his wife Osage (played by Lily Gladstone) and his powerful uncle.
The film also features jesse plemons as FBI Agent Tom White. Plemons’ career has taken off in recent years, starting with his role as Chuckie O’Brien in The Irishmana previous collaboration with Scorsese, and most recently with his Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in New Zealand Jeanne Campionit is The power of the dog. Meanwhile, Brendan Fraser continues his impressive acting comeback with his role as attorney WS Hamilton. John Lithgow also stars as District Attorney Leaward who seeks to convict Hale of murder.
Along with assembling a stellar cast, Scorsese is surrounded by a familiar crew. Known for his painstaking editing process, the director continues his longstanding association with the publisher Thelma Schoonmaker and Robbie Robertsonwho has been a music producer on Scorsese films since 1978.
Determined to work with the Osage Nation for this film, Scorsese cast native actors as the Osage people in the film and, with the tribe’s permission, filmed scenes on Osage land. The director worked closely with the film’s Osage Tribe Ambassador Chad Renfro and Osage Nation Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear is a consultant on the film. In February 2021, before filming began, DiCaprio and Scorsese gave a presentation about their intentions towards the story and its themes. Members of the Osage tribe were given the chance to voice their concerns, and DiCaprio asked questions to enhance the film’s authenticity.
What is the plot of Killers of the Flower Moon?
The Moonflower Slayers tells the story of the plot to kill nearly sixty members of the Osage tribe from 1921 to 1925. In the latter part of the 19th century, the Osage Indian tribe of Oklahoma won the right to profit from the huge deposits of oil discovered in the country . The tens of millions of dollars that the Osage people earned on their own meant that the Osage nation was considered one of the wealthiest nations in the world. The wealth made the federal government nervous enough to appoint Caucasian guardians to “help” it with financial management and caused murderous envy among other communities that had not made it so wealthy. And in 1921, those bad feelings quickly turned violent, when the body of a wealthy Osage woman was found in the woods. By 1925, at least sixty wealthy members of the Osage tribe were dead. The FBI became involved in the investigation and was led by Agent Tom White, who uncovers an elaborate plot by local rancher William Hale to take control of Osage Oil. Hale had even convinced his nephew Ernest Burkhart to marry Mollie Kile, a native Osage woman, to improve his claim to the land. It’s probably safe to say that this tale of racism, murder, betrayal, and greed will become a serious, suspenseful film under Scorsese’s direction.
Who distributes Killers of the Flower Moon?
Originally, Paramount was behind the film, but trouble arose when the film’s cost soared to $200 million, far too big a budget for the studio. Additionally, Paramount wanted DiCaprio for the role of intrepid FBI investigator and protagonist Tom White. When DiCaprio instead chose to play the morally dubious Ernest Burkhart, the studio feared that without the star as the protagonist, the film wouldn’t appeal enough to audiences. Paramount sold the film to streaming giant Apple while remaining the film’s worldwide distributor. Apple, after its victory for the best film in 2021 for CODAclearly hopes to strike gold at the Oscars again.
Is there a release date for Killers of the Flower Moon?
There is still no firm release date for the film. At first, the film would have been released in late 2022, but the current estimate for a release date is May 2023 at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. It will likely have a nationwide theatrical release before being available to stream exclusively on Apple TV+. That release date means the film won’t be eligible for the long-awaited Best Picture Oscar until 2024, but it’s quite possible that the quality of the production will provide enough momentum to keep the buzz surrounding the image lasting until 2024. the. Meanwhile, although reshoots of some scenes are still taking place in New York this month, the scenes don’t involve any of the main cast and are unlikely to cause any major delays.