Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” Will Premiere at Cannes

Earlier this week, we learned that Apple was going to release Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon smack dab in the middle of prime prestige film season next fall. Now we know when Scorsese’s star-studded crime drama will be making its world premiere—at the Cannes Film Festival this May.

Scorsese’s western crime drama, adapted by the director and screenwriter Eric Roth from investigative journalist David Grann’s bestselling 2017 nonfiction book, is centered on an investigation into a series of murders of members of the Osage people in Oklahoma in the early 1920s after massive oil deposits were discovered beneath their land. Scorsese re-teamed with longtime collaborators Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, while the cast is rounded out by a slew of excellent performers, including Jesse Plemmons, Lily Gladstone, John Lithgow, Brendan Fraser, Tantoo Cardinal, Cara Jade Myers, Scott Shepherd, and Janae Collins.

This will mark Scorsese’s first film to screen at Cannes in generations. His last was After Hours, which played at the fest way back in 1986 and which won the legendary director best director honor. Previously, his iconic film Taxi Driver won the Palme d’Or for best film in 1976. Scorsese also headed the Cannes jury in 1998.

Cannes hasn’t yet announced whether Killers of the Flower Moon will be running in competition or out, with the announcement of the official program coming at the press conference in mid-April when the full competition line-up is revealed.

After its Cannes premiere, Scorsese’s hotly-anticipated western crime drama will have a limited opening on Friday, October 6, and then go wide on Friday, October 20, after which it will stream on Apple TV+. Scorsese’s writing partner Eric Roth believes Killers of the Flower Moon might end up being the last true Western ever made.

“I know Marty’s trying to make a movie that’s probably the last Western that would be made like this, and yet, with this incredible social document underneath it, and the violence and the environment. I think it’ll be like nothing we’ve ever seen, in a way. And so this one is, to me, one for the ages,” Roth told Collider. 

DiCaprio plays Ernest Burkhart, the nephew of cattleman William Hale (Robert De Niro). Lily Gladstone, who is of Blackfeet and Nimíipuu heritage, plays Mollie Kyle, an Osage woman who has inherited an oil fortune. Jesse Plemons plays Tom White, a former Texas Ranger investigating the murders.

Here’s the synopsis for the film:

Based on David Grann’s broadly lauded best-selling book, “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.

For more on Killers of the Flower Moon, check out these stories:

Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” Gets Fall Release From Apple

John Lithgow Joins Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon”

Screenwriter Eric Roth Says Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” Could Be Historic

Martin Scorsese & Leonardo DiCaprio’s Killers of the Flower Moon Headed to Apple

Featured image: Lily Gladstone and Leonardo DiCaprio in “Killers of the Flower Moon,” coming soon to Apple TV+.