2023 film by Martin Scorsese
Killers of the Flower Moon is a 2023 American epic crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese, who co-wrote the screenplay with Eric Roth, based on the 2017 nonfiction book. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, and Lily Gladstone. 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, but a corrupt local political boss sought to steal the wealth. It is the sixth feature film collaboration between Scorsese and DiCaprio, the tenth between Scorsese and De Niro, and the eleventh and final between Scorsese and composer Robbie Robertson, who died two months before the film's release and to whom the film is dedicated.
Development began in March 2016 when Imperative Entertainment won the 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 start in February 2021, with Apple Studios confirmed to finance and distribute the film alongside Paramount Pictures. Principal photography ultimately took place between April and October 2021 in Osage and Washington counties, Oklahoma. With its $200–215 million budget, it was reportedly the largest amount ever spent on a film shoot in Oklahoma, and was a financial failure with a gross of $158.8 million.
Killers of the Flower Moon premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on May 20, 2023. It was theatrically released in the United States on October 20, by Paramount Pictures, before streaming on Apple TV+ in January 2024, and received critical acclaim. The film won Best Film at the National Board of Review and was named one of the top-ten films of 2023 by the American Film Institute. It was also nominated for ten Academy Awards (including Best Picture), seven Golden Globe Awards (including Best Motion Picture), nine British Academy Film Awards (including Best Film), and three SAG Awards. For her performance, Gladstone won the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress, and she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.
Plot summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.