Martin Scorsese‘s “Killers of the Flower Moon” will finally launch for streaming on Apple TV+ on January 12, Apple announced on January 4.
The film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone will finally be available for at-home SVOD viewing just as voting for Oscar nominations is ongoing, with the voting period kicking off January 11.
Even though it’s an Apple Original film that otherwise would be intended for streaming, “Killers” has been handled like a traditional theatrical release (as handled by Paramount) and had a healthy exhibition window and PVOD window before it will finally become available for free streaming to Apple TV+ subscribers. The date it would finally become available on Apple TV+ had been a mystery. Until now.
“Killers” is still hanging around in theaters, now for over 10 weeks as it has earned $156 million worldwide at the box office. It’s also been available for PVOD for rental at $19.99 for the past month, where in its first week on streaming it toppled “Oppenheimer” at #1 on the PVOD charts for Apple, Google Play, and Vudu. Apple is reaping much of the benefits of those PVOD purchases, and the streamer hasn’t been shy about touting the film among its other content, even though for now it’s just been available for rental.
Apple has yet to announce an SVOD release date for its other historical epic from 2023, Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon,” which was also released theatrically in November and had its theatrical release handled by Sony. Apple also just released the trailer for “Argylle,” Matthew Vaughn’s spy thriller, and that movie is being released in theaters by Apple’s third theatrical partner, Universal, on February 2. It too hasn’t revealed an SVOD streaming date.
“Killers of the Flower Moon” topped IndieWire’s poll of film critics as the best movie of 2023, and it also had the most mentions on the Oscars shortlists with inclusion on the Best Makeup and Hair, Best Sound, Best Original Score, and Best Original Song categories. It was also named the Best Film of the Year by the National Board of Review and has received 12 Critics Choice Award nominations and seven Golden Globe Award nominations. This evening, “Killers of the Flower Moon” is set to be honored with the Vanguard Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival Film Awards gala.
The film is set in 1920s Oklahoma among the Osage Nation, tracking the true story of how the oil-rich members of the Osage tribe were caught up in a string of murders by white men who married into the Osage families. Scorsese’s film is based on David Grann’s non-fiction book and was adapted by Scorsese and Eric Roth. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, Tantoo Cardinal, Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins and Jillian Dion.
