The first trailer for Killers of the Flower Moon reunites Academy Award winner Leonardo DiCaprio with Academy Award winner Robert De Niro and Academy Award-winning director Martin Scorsese for this Western crime drama. Released courtesy of Paramount Pictures, the first footage from Killers of the Flower Moon finally gives us something from the highly anticipated movie aside from that one image that we are all now far too familiar with. Check out the newly released trailer for Killers of the Flower Moon below.
Directed by Martin Scorsese from a screenplay by Scorsese and Eric Roth, and based on the non-fiction book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann, Killers of the Flower Moon will explore the real-life murders which took place in the Osage Nation in the 1920s after oil was discovered on tribal land. The incident sparked a major FBI investigation directed by a 29-year-old J. Edgar Hoover and former Texas Ranger Tom White.
Breaking Bad star and Academy Award nominee Jesse Plemons will lead Killers of the Flower Moon as old-style lawman Tom White, with Leonardo DiCaprio set to play a man named Ernest Burkhart. Hollywood icon Robert De Niro meanwhile will portray Burkhart’s uncle, the American cattleman and convicted murderer William Hale. The rest of the hugely impressive cast includes recent Oscar winner Brendan Fraser, Lily Gladstone, Tantoo Cardinal, Jack White, and John Lithgow.
Killers of the Flower Moon Has Already Received Huge Praise from Author David Grann
Considering the talent involved in Killers of the Flower Moon, the expectation is that the crime drama will emerge as one of the best movies of the year. According to author David Grann, this is likely to be the case, with the writer heaping praise on the performances from Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone, and the efforts that have been made by Scorsese to bring authenticity to the screen.
“I did visit the set for a few days. And I was, again, just really impressed by how they managed to bring these historical figures to life and capture the hidden truths about the story,” Grann said. “Leo [DiCaprio] just seemed to just be able to capture the nature of Ernest Burkhart, and the level of complicity of his character, and this evil system. And Lily Gladstone brings Mollie to life with such sensitivity and emotional power, at least in the bits I saw.”
He continued adding, “What I was struck by from Scorsese to the actors was the level of commitment and how much research they did to understand the parts and understand the history. They just seemed voracious, a little bit like historians, in their search for any knowledge, transcripts, documents, speaking to descendants, speaking with members of the Osage Nation.”
Killers of the Flower Moon is now confirmed to have its world premiere at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on May 20, 2023, and is scheduled to be released in select cinemas on October 6, 2023. Killers of the Flower Moon will then receive a wide release in the United States on October 20, 2023, by Paramount Pictures before landing on Apple TV+.