Killers of the Flower Moon :Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Lily Gladstone lead an ensemble cast, that also includes Jesse Plemons, Tantoo Cardinal, John Lithgow and Brendan Fraser. It is the sixth feature film collaboration between Scorsese and DiCaprio, the tenth between Scorsese and De Niro, and the eleventh and final collaboration between Scorsese and composer Robbie Robertson, who died two months before the film’s release. The film is dedicated to Robertson.
Killers of the Flower Moon is a 2023 American epic western crime drama film directed and co-produced by Martin Scorsese, who also co-wrote the script alongside Eric Roth, based on the 2017 non-fiction book of the same name by David Grann. Set in 1920s Oklahoma, it focuses on a series of murders of Osage members and relations in the Osage Nation after oil was discovered on tribal land. The tribal members had retained mineral rights on their reservation, and white opportunists sought to take the tribal members’ wealth.
Development began in March 2016 when Imperative Entertainment won the film adaptation rights to the book. Scorsese and DiCaprio were attached to the film in 2017, with production expected to begin in early 2018. Following several pushbacks and delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, production was scheduled to begin in February 2021, with Apple TV+ confirmed to finance and distribute the film alongside Paramount Pictures. Principal photography ultimately took place in Osage and Washington counties, Oklahoma, between April and October 2021. The film was produced by Scorsese’s Sikelia Productions and DiCaprio’s Appian Way Productions, with its $200 million budget reportedly the largest amount ever spent on a film shoot in Oklahoma.
Killers of the Flower Moon premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on May 20, 2023. It was released in the United States on October 20, 2023, by Apple TV+ under their Apple Original Films label, alongside Paramount Pictures which screened the film in IMAX.The film has grossed over $154 million worldwide and received critical acclaim, with Scorsese’s direction, the screenplay, production values, editing, cinematography, musical score, and cast performances (especially DiCaprio, Gladstone, and De Niro) being highly praised, although the runtime received minor criticism.