Martin Scorsese’s ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ to premiere in Cannes
The Apple Originals drama, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone and Robert De Niro, will premiere on the Croisette on May 20.
Martin Scorsese’s hotly anticipated new feature, “Killers of the Flower Moon”, will have its world premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Organisers confirmed the film’s debut, however, the festival has not yet specified whether the film will play in or out of competition. The Apple Originals movie stars Leonardo Di Caprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins, Jillian Dion and Tantoo Cardinal, all of whom are expected to arrive in Cannes for the May 20 premiere, alongside Scorsese.
Based on David Grann’s best-selling book and written for the screen by Eric Roth (“Dune”, “A Star is Born”) and Scorsese, “Killers of the Flower Moon” is set in 1920s Oklahoma and depicts the serial murder of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation, a string of brutal crimes that came to be known as the “Reign of Terror.” The screening will mark the first Scorsese film to screen in an official selection at Cannes since “After Hours” premiered in competition in 1986, winning Scorsese the best director honour. Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver” won Cannes’ Palme d’Or for best film in 1976, and the director was head of the Cannes jury in 1998.
Cannes organizers wouldn’t say whether “Killers of the Flower Moon would run in or out of competition at the 76th festival. Cannes will confirm the selection in which the movie will screen at its official program press conference in a few days when it announces its full competition lineup. “Killers of the Flower Moon'' is one of the most anticipated films of the year and a major get for Cannes. The film is also the keystone in Apple’s new $1 billion theatrical push, which will see the tech giant ramp up its theatrical slate. Apple’s commitment to the big screen was likely a factor in Cannes’ decision. Streaming giant Netflix, which has refused to prioritize theatrical, has been effectively banned from the Croisette. This film will go out on an exclusive, limited theatrical release, in partnership with Paramount Pictures, on Friday, October 6, and go wide on October 20 in the U.S. The French release is set for October 18. The film will later stream globally on Apple TV+.