Martin Scorsese arrived in Las Vegas on Thursday. No, he wasn't there to revisit the Sin City setting of "Casino," one of his mob masterpieces. He traveled to the gaming Mecca with his latest opus, "Killers of the Flower Moon," a labyrinthine tale of murder and greed that, if it plays his cards right, could be a top award contender for this year.
The "greatest living director" shared the first trailer for the film at CinemaCon, the annual conference of theater owners that takes place this week. Based on the best-selling book by David Grann, "Killers of the Flower Moon" is a true story, opening the curtain on a series of murders of wealthy Osage individuals that took place in the early 1920s after they were discovered major oil deposits on their land. It also looks at how the newly formed FBI investigated the murders.
Director: Martin Scorsese
Writers: Eric Roth, Martin Scorsese, David Grann
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone
"This is a big screen movie, and that's what we did," Scorsese said, promising a story told on an "epic scale." The film reunites Scorsese with two of his most frequent collaborators, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, as well as Jesse Plemons, Brendan Fraser, John Lithgow and Lily Gladstone.
“I would like to thank the entire Osage Nation,” Scorsese said, praising them for “working tirelessly” to bring the story to life.
And the film sees DiCaprio and De Niro playing two schemers who would like to get their hands on Osage wealth, even if it means blowing up, shooting, or violently disposing of people.
“I love that money, sir,” DiCaprio tells De Niro, who plays a sleazy cable baron, in the trailer. “This wealth should come to us,” advises De Niro later. The trailer also shows DiCaprio trying to seduce Gladstone, whom he later marries.
But Plemons, who plays an upright lawman, may have other ideas. He advises DiCaprio's shadow operator that he wants to find out who is responsible for all the carnage. "I was sent from Washington D.C. to look at these murders," Plemons tells DiCaprio. "See what happens," DiCaprio replies. "Look who's doing it."
Paramount mocked the footage during its presentation. It is distributing the film, which was produced by Apple Original Films. With a budget of $200 million and a running time of over 3 hours and 20 minutes, the movie is huge in every sense of the word. It will premiere at this year's Cannes Film Festival before opening in theaters on October 6. Scorsese wrote the script with Eric Roth.
Paramount also offered footage from the latest "Transformers" and "Mission: Impossible" movies, as well as "Marley," his look at music legend Bob Marley.