Martin Scorsese‘s films deserve to be seen on the big screen, and Apple is giving the acclaimed director’s latest the biggest screens possible. Scorsese’s upcoming Western epic “Killers of the Flower Moon” will receive a run in IMAX theaters upon its release, Apple announced Wednesday. The company shared the news along with the release of the full trailer for the film, which can be watched below.
Based on the non-fiction book of the same name by journalist David Grann, “Killers of the Flower Moon” is set in the 1920s on the Oklahoma land of the Osage Nation native tribe. During the turn of the century, oil was discovered in the area, turning the Osage into some of the richest people in the world. The new wealth of the tribe lead to tragedy, however, as at least 60 Osage were reported murdered between 1918 and 1931.
A FBI investigation into the murders eventually found cattleman William Hale (played by frequent Scorsese muse Robert De Niro) as the mastermind behind the plot to eliminate the Osage to gain control of the rights of their oil. The film follows the events of the murders through the perspectives of Hale’s nephew Ernest (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his wife, native Osage Mollie (Lily Gladstone). Jesse Plemons, Brendan Fraser, and John Lithgow also star in the film, which was directed by Scorsese based off a script he wrote with Eric Roth.
Scorsese’s first project since his 2019 Best Picture nominee “The Irishman,” “Killers of the Flower Moon” made its world premiere out of competition at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival in May. There, it was immediately received with rapturous acclaim, with critics particularly praising Scorsese’s direction and Gladstone’s performance.
In his review out of the festival, IndieWire Chief Film Critic David Ehrlich wrote that “Scorsese turns ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ into the kind of story that he can still tell better than anyone else: A story about greed, corruption, and the mottled soul of a country that was born from the belief that it belonged to anyone callous enough to take it.”
“Killers of the Flower Moon” will premiere in select theaters on October 6, followed by a wide release on October 20. The film will stream globally on Apple TV+ from a yet-to-be-announced date. Following the release of the film, Scorsese and DiCaprio will re-team with Apple for an adaptation of Grann’s latest nonfiction work, shipwreck survival story “The Wager.”
