Killers of the Flower Moon release date and everything to know

Updated: Sept. 13, 2023 – If you’re putting together you fall movie list, consider adding Killers of the Flower Moon. The period piece set in the 1920s was written by Eric Roth and Martin Scorsese. The famed filmmaker is also the director of the Apple Studios movie which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, and Lily Gladstone in the principal cast.

Taking place in Oklahoma, in a county known for its oil deposits and the Osage Nation members who own the land on which they sit, the film is about love, betrayal, and murder in the opening decades of the 20th century. When money is involved, people will use any means to get it, even taking multiple lives to ensure their own gain.

Here’s everything you need to know about the movie before it makes its debut!

Killers of the Flower Moon release date

The film’s theatrical release date is Friday, Oct. 20, 2023.

Where will Killers of the Flower Moon stream after theaters?

The movie will make its streaming debut on Apple TV+, however, a date for when the film will head to the streamer has yet to be announced.

What is Killers of the Flower Moon about?

The official synopsis via Apple:

"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 and Mollie Kyle, Killers of the Flower Moon is an epic western crime saga, where real love crosses paths with unspeakable betrayal."

Is Killers of the Flower Moon based on a true story?

As Hidden Remote previously reported, the movie is inspired from the real life Osage murders that took place in the 1920s. In the Oklahoma county, the indigenous Osage tribe won a court case that proclaimed they had a right to the oil deposits found on their land. The ruling established members of the community as millionaires once the oil was sold.

However, a cattleman by the name of William Hale decided he wanted in on the payout and came up with a plot to murder several people including his brother-in-law. At the time, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was a new institution under the American government. These murders, which officially have a count of 20 but could actually be in the hundreds since Hale wasn’t the only landowner to execute this conspiracy, was the FBI’s first big case.

Is Killers of the Flower Moon based on a book?

Yes. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI was published in 2017. American Journalist David Grann, known for his work in The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and more reputable publications, wrote the 352 page non-fiction account of the horrific crimes that plagued the Osage region of Oklahoma.

Where was Killers of the Flower Moon filmed?

According to IMDb, production did take place in Oklahoma, specifically in Osage County. Fairfax served as the location for Rita Smith’s home, the bank, and a home that was bombed. Pawhuska is where scenes with the Osage Nation were filmed, this is the real life location of the nation’s seat of governing power. The US Federal Court House was shot in Tulsa. Filming also took place in Bartlesville.

The site indicates that principal photography ran from Apr. 19 – Oct. 1, 2021 and additional shooting took place in March 2022. So, moviegoers can anticipate the film to have an authentic representation of Oklahoma without another state or country’s township serving as a stand-in.

Killers of the Flower Moon age rating

The MPAA has given the film an R rating for violence, grisly images, and language. Given the premise of the movie, viewers can expect to see depictions of the murders and the investigators coming across the bodies of the victims hence the warning about upsetting images. As for language, that’s likely less harsh profanity and potentially period typical pejoratives toward indigenous people and interracial couples.

How long is Killers of the Flower Moon?

Be prepared for a long sit in the theater, or at home once it starts streaming, the movie has a 3 hour and 26 minute runtime.

Is J. Edgar Hoover in Killers of the Flower Moon?

It appears the director of the FBI won’t be in the film. In The New York Times‘ Cannes review of the movie, it’s reported that Hoover is mentioned, but that it “largely evokes the agency’s future, its authority, scandals and that time DiCaprio played a closeted leader in Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar (2011).”

Killers of the Flower Moon cast

• Leonardo DiCaprio as Ernest Burkhart
• Robert De Niro as William Hale
• Jesse Plemons as Tom White
• Lily Gladstone as Mollie Burkhart
• Tantoo Cardinal as Lizzie Q
• Cara Jade Myers as Anna Kyle Brown
• JaNae Collins as Rita
• Jillian Dion as Minnie
• William Belleau as Henry Roan
• Louis Cancelmi as Kelsie Morrison
• Tatanka Means as John Wren
• Michael Abbott Jr. as Frank Smith
• Pat Healy as John Burger
• Scott Shepherd as Bryan Burkhart
• Jason Isbell as Bill Smith
• Sturgill Simpson as Henry Grammer
• John Lithgow as Prosecutor Leaward
• Brendan Fraser as W.S. Hamilton

Killers of the Flower Moon trailer

Watch the official trailer below:

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