Martin Scorsese has presented the first images of his next film, a thriller in Native American land

Martin Scorsese presented the first images of Killers of the Flower Moon at CinemaCon in Las Vegas (USA), Thursday, April 27. In this dark western, actor Leonardo DiCaprio portrays a serial killer who attacks the Native Americans of Oklahoma in order to seize their oil. The story, which is set in the 1920s, looks back at the mysterious murders and disappearances of the Osage tribe, which held black gold.

Leonardo DiCaprio embodies the role of Ernest Burkhart, a man in love with a Native American (actress Lily Gladstone) and who is entangled in a conspiracy imagined by cattle magnate William Hale, played by an oil-hungry Robert De Niro . For the first time, 80-year-old Martin Scorsese is working with two of his favorite actors.

“Do What It Takes”

With this film, the American cinema giant wanted to explore the motivations behind the murder of the members of the native tribe. The FBI agent tasked with solving the murders is played by Jesse Plemons. Martin Scorsese wanted to show how some Americans “were able to rationalize violence – even against those they loved – by simply saying, ‘This is civilization. One group in and another out'” said the director.

The film addresses “a forgotten part of our past”claimed Leonardo DiCaprio, who was initially to play the FBI detective, but who preferred to play the murderer after spending time with the Osage Native Americans.

The screenplay of the film, shot on the real locations of this macabre past, was reworked until the last day of filming, explained Martin Scorsese, who was keen to “do what is necessary for them”. “It was about immersing yourself in this world”insisted the New York director, despite the heat and the coyotes prowling the Oklahoma prairies.

Distribution in cinemas and on a platform

Initially produced by the Paramount studio, this gigantic project – with a duration of three and a half hours and a budget of 200 million dollars – was bought by Apple, which accepted a release in dark rooms, before releasing it. offer on its streaming platform, Apple TV+. The broadcast will be done in three stages: first in the cinema in a limited way on October 6 and then more widely on October 20, before arriving on Apple TV+.

“I’m really excited to have a wide theatrical release before the film is available at home, which is okay…”, insisted Martin Scorsese. His previous film, The Irishmanproduced by Netflix, had been little shown in the cinema, before arriving in streaming.

The CinemaCon organization presented Martin Scorsese with a lifetime achievement award. His work “will be revered for centuries and generations”, says Leonardo DiCaprio. The director of Taxi Driver, raging bull And Freedmen took advantage of its visit to Las Vegas to ask cinema owners to add to their programming “real auteur films”alongside the many American blockbusters.

Killers of the Flower Moon will also premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May.