Martin Scorsese’s upcoming western crime drama, Killers of the Flower Moon, finished filming in late 2021. This means that the movie is the closest it’s been to being released ever since the rights were bought way back in 2016. It’s based on a non-fiction book of the same name that wasn’t even published until a year after those rights were purchased. In turn, there’s been a high demand for the movie, and its release this year is greatly anticipated.

Even amidst several delays due to other film projects and the COVID-19 pandemic, the movie was never completely pushed aside after the initial filming plans for March 2020 were canceled. Though the film changed directors several times before finally settling on Martin Scorsese, it has an all-star cast and even sought help from the Osage tribe, the Indigenous American tribe featured in the book.

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Here’s a look at everything we know so far.

Updated: July 2022 by Raquel Morales: If you are excited about Killers of the Flower Moon, you’ll be happy to read this updated article that provides the cast, plot, release date, and everything else we know about the film.

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Plot

      Paramount Pictures

Since Killers of the Flower Moon is based on a non-fiction book, it’s certain the two share a similar plot derived from a very true but often forgotten piece of American history. In the early 1920s, vast oil deposits were discovered beneath the Osage people’s land, an otherwise infertile and desolate area they were actually forced to migrate to after white Americans pushed them off their original land. Courts awarded the Osage people the right to the profits made from the oil on their land, and “they made so much oil money that the government began appointing white guardians to ‘help’ them spend it,” according to the book and National Public Radio.

As members of the profitable oil community began to lose money to the Osage tribe, a murderous conspiracy developed that ignored the fact that the Indigenous Americans were legal owners of the land and its profits. Entire communities developed a scheme to kill and rob the new wealth Osage peoples; as David Gann writes in his book:

The newly-created FBI proceeded to go undercover and investigate the more than 24 murders in a risky, gradual process.

[…] so many people were part of the plot. You had lawmen, you had prosecutors, you had the reporters who wouldn’t cover it. You had oilmen who wouldn’t speak out. You had morticians who would cover up the murders when they buried the body. You had doctors who helped give poison to people.

While the film will undoubtedly play the line between fiction and reality, Killers of the Flower Moon intends to be as true to historical facts as possible. In this way, the film will bring one of the most gruesome episodes in recent history closer to new generations so that they learn from it and avoid repeating it.

In a world that moves through money, it never hurts to remember the tragedy that can happen if ambition and greed bring out the worst in a person. After all, the human being is capable of the worst when it comes to power and money. Killers of the Flower Moon and the past the movie reveals are living proof of that.

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Cast

     Paramount Pictures

There is an extensive list of cast members released so far, though the production companies continued casting new actors well into the middle of filming, so there’s a chance there are still a few we don’t know about. What we do know, however, is that there are four main actors leading the story. They are Leonardo DiCaprio (the modern Scorsese muse) as Ernest Burkhart, Jesse Plemons as Tom White, Lily Gladstone as Mollie Burkhart, and Robert De Niro (the former Scorsese muse) as William Hale. DiCaprio also served as a producer.

Other cast members joining these stars include Michael Abbott Jr., Gary Basaraba, William Belleau, Louis Cancelmi, Tantoo Cardinal, JaNae Collins, Barry Corbin, Jillian Dion, Steve Eastin, Brendan Fraser – returning to the big leagues of cinema –, Pat Healy, Jason Isbell, Tatanka Means, Cara Jade Myers, John Lithgow (who recently joined the project) Scott Shepherd, and singer Sturgill Simpson.

Release Date

Killers of the Flower Moon was set to be released sometime in 2022, but ever since The Playlist’s Gregory Ellwood tweeted in April 2022 that the film “might not make it” to the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, rumors have been swirling that the release date is pushed to 2023. Considering they wrapped filming up in October 2021, it’s more likely this movie will be out later in the year during awards season, as editing wraps up and the finishing touches are added on.

Though the film is largely produced by Paramount Pictures, it won’t be available to watch on Paramount+. Instead, it will be released in theaters as well as be available to stream on Apple TV+ after the streaming service joined as a co-producer to fund the film.

Despite the streamer’s involvement, Killers of the Flower Moon will undoubtedly push for theaters — especially after The Academy announced new rules, one of which requires that eligible films must go for the big screen upon release to the masses. “The Academy encourages the screening of eligible films in a theatrical setting for its members,” the organization emphasized.

The initial release date, an unspecified day in 2021, was initially planned after filming was announced to begin in early 2020. With the pandemic, filming was delayed indefinitely. However, director Martin Scorsese had planned to make this movie his priority after finishing his previous film, The Irishman. So, using this extra time to make some script changes and to cast additional people, along with forming an unprecedented 100-member team of nurses and doctors to protect from the pandemic, the cast and crew were finally allowed to begin filming in mid-2021, pushing the release date back only one year.

After so much back and forth about the release date, Killers of the Flower Moon is set to be released in November 2022. There should be no more delays in the date since the film is in post-production, but it’s difficult to predict.

Working With the Osage Tribe

Scorsese has worked hand-in-hand with the Osage tribe to bring about a proper tribute to what is sometimes referred to as the “Osage reign of terror.” Thanks to their collaboration, the movie should have accurate depictions of what actually happened to these people.

Killers of the Flower Moon was also primarily shot on Osage grounds so that the background will stay true to the origins. With the inclusion of indigenous cast members, it looks like Scorsese was trying not to miss a single detail when casting and filming. If the post-production is as good as the rest of the $200 million project, we should be in for a great retelling of this human tragedy and yet another great film from the master of cinema.