Apple Studios hasn’t been shy about loading up Apple TV+ with a large number of original films in order to fill out its cinematic library. So when an Apple movie is heading toward theaters with a wide release, it’s a big deal. And it doesn’t get much bigger than director Martin Scorsese dropping a new crime epic, Killers of the Flower Moon, with Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro in the leading roles. According to the new trailer’s tagline, it’s “based on a true American story,” and it is. But it’s not a happy story that makes the country look good. Instead, this is a dark tale of murder and greed.
As laid out in the trailer, the Osage tribe of Oklahoma has struck it rich in the 1920s. The worthless land they were given has made them wealthy beyond their dreams with an abundance of oil. And the robber barons of that era simply won’t stand for that. That’s why they’re behind a brutal campaign to wipe out the Osage in any way that they can. Unfortunately for Ernest Burkhart (DiCaprio), he’s right in the middle of the conflict.
Ernest is in love with an Osage woman named Mollie (Lily Gladstone), which gives him a personal tie to the tribe. But his uncle, William Hale (Robert De Niro), is one of the architects behind the reign of terror that is targeting Mollie’s people. So much blood has been spilled that the Osage are ready to fight back, and the U.S. government has sent Texas Ranger Tom White (Jesse Plemons) to put an end to the murders.
Brendan Fraser also stars in the film as W. S. Hamilton, with John Lithgow as Prosecutor Leaward, Tantoo Cardinal as Lizzie Q, Cara Jade Myers as Anna Brown, JaNae Collins as Reta, Jillian Dion as Minnie, William Belleau as Henry Roan, Scott Shepherd as Bryan Burkhart, Louis Cancelmi as Kelsie Morrison, Jason Isbell as Bill Smith, Sturgill Simpson as Henry Grammer, and Tatanka Means as John Wren.
In addition to directing the film, Scorsese co-wrote the script with Eric Roth based on David Grann’s novel, Killers of the Flower Moon. Apple Studios is teaming up with Paramount to give the film a limited release in IMAX theaters on October 6, followed by a wide release on October 20. It will stream on Apple TV+ at an unspecified point in the future, possibly in late 2023 or early 2024.
