Paramount Pictures and Apple Studios have released the first trailer for Martin Scorsese’s epic Killers of the Flower Moon, which teams his favorite leading men, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro. The film, which Scorsese wrote with Eric Roth (Forrest Gump, Dune) is based on David Grann’s non-fiction account of a series of brutal murders that were carried out against the Osage Nation in the 1920s by William Hale (De Niro) and his nephew Ernest Burkhart (DiCaprio) to gain control of their oil rights.
Here’s Apple’s official synopsis:
At the turn of the 20th century, oil brought a fortune to the Osage Nation, who became some of the richest people in the world overnight. The wealth of these Native Americans immediately attracted white interlopers, who manipulated, extorted, and stole as much Osage money as they could before resorting to murder. Based on a true story and told through the improbable romance of Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone), “Killers of the Flower Moon” is an epic western crime saga, where real love crosses paths with unspeakable betrayal. Also starring Robert De Niro and Jesse Plemons, “Killers of the Flower Moon” is directed by Academy Award winner Martin Scorsese from a screenplay by Eric Roth and Martin Scorsese, based on David Grann’s best-selling book.
This is the same trailer I caught at CinemaCon last month, and as dynamic as it looks online, it can’t be overstated how amazing it looked theatrically, with it clear that Paramount and Apple made a smart move by giving this an exclusive theatrical play. The movie’s scope is epic, as is the cast, with Lily Gladstone being tipped for an Oscar win for her role as Mollie Burkhart, who, if you’ve read the book, is the heart of the story (and the protagonist in a lot of ways). Killers of the Flower Moon premieres at the Cannes Film Festival this week, and opens in theaters on October 6th, before premiering on Apple TV+ later this year.