Martin Scorsese’s ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Will Have World Premiere in Cannes

Martin Scorsese’s hotly anticipated new feature, Killers of the Flower Moon, will have its world premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, organizers confirmed Friday.

The Apple Originals movie, an epic about the serial murders of the members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation in 1920s Oklahoma, stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins, Jillian Dion and Tantoo Cardinal, all of whom are expected to attend Cannes for the May 20 premiere, alongside Scorsese.

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The screening will mark the first Scorsese film to screen in official selection in Cannes since After Hours bowed in competition in 1986, winning Scorsese the best director honor. 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 section in which the movie will screen at its official program press conference mid-April, when it announces its full competition lineup.

Adapted from David Grann’s best-selling book and written for the screen by Scorsese and Eric Roth (Dune, A Star Is Born), 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.

Killers of the Flower Moon will go out on an exclusive, limited theatrical release, in partnership with Paramount Pictures, on Friday, Oct. 6, and go wide Oct. 20 in the U.S. The French release is set for Oct. 18. The film will later stream globally on Apple TV+.

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.

Killers of the Flower Moon was produced by Apple Studios alongside Imperative Entertainment, Sikelia Productions and Appian Way. Producers are Scorsese, Dan Friedkin, Bradley Thomas and
Daniel Lupi, with DiCaprio, Rick Yorn, Adam Somner, Marianne Bower, Lisa Frechette, John Atwood, Shea Kammer and Niels Juul serving as executive producers.

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