Apple's epic 'Killers of the Flower Moon' is a hit in theaters

AppleInsider

Ahead of its Apple TV+ streaming debut, the theatrical release of the Martin Scorsese-directed "Killers of the Flower Moon" earned second place in the weekend box office charts.

L-R: Apple's Eddy Cue, Martin Scorsese, Apple's Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg at the Los Angeles premiere of Apple Original Films' "Killers of the Flower Moon" in the Dolby Theatre.

"Killer Moon" is the long-awaited Apple film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by him and Eric Roth. It's a 206-minute film dramatizing the true story of the Native American Osage Nation, who initially became rich after after oil was discovered on their land.

However, the "wealth of these Native Americans immediately attracted white interlopers," says the film's synopsis, "who manipulated, extorted, and stole as much Osage money as they could before resorting to murder."

Following a series of premiers around the world, with Tim Cook attending the screening at Cannes, Variety reports that its general release opened to a box office of $23 million nationally. It was screened in 3,628 theaters across the US, and internationally it earned a further $21 million from 63 countries or territories.

It's Scorsese's best opening box office since 2010's "Shutter Island." CinemaScore has given it an A- rating and on Rotten Tomatoes its aggregated critics' score is 92%.

For such an expensive production, though, $23 million would normally be considered very low -- and the film was beaten by Taylor Swift's "Eras Tour" movie.

In the case of "Killers of the Flower Moon," however, the theatrical release is being seen as a launch for the movie's streaming debut on Apple TV+. Variety points out that the film would not have been made at all without Apple, as the streamer stepped in when Paramount was going to have to back down.

It's also notable that the release could not be accompanied by any promotion from its cast, including Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio, because of the ongoing actors' strike.

"Killers of the Flower Moon" remains on general release in theaters. No date has been given yet for its Apple TV+ debut.

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thrang

I saw this over the weekend with my son and his girlfriend. While not bad in any way, and the acting is excellent throughout, I was underwhelmed by the actual script. I don't mind very long films, but this Killers did not earn the length even remotely. The real story is unquestionably worth hearing, but without getting into details, they probably should have stuck the the structure of the book (as I understand it), as it would have provided a narrative with discovery and sense of propulsion. The first two plus hours of Killers, while technically well done and acted, becomes a largely inert and repetitive affair. Only when the feds arrive is there more structure that frames the story, but by then it's somewhat too late.

It also tries to apply a moral ambiguity (I think?) in DiCaprio's character which does not really jibe with the intentions and actions throughout, and, as I understand, not with the real Burkhardt. In essence, other then being sympathetic to the plight of the Osage, the film is filled with people you simply dislike - which is fine to a certain level, as these were terrible people - but in a film narrative (and a very long one at that), it does not provide much for an audience to latch onto more deeply, and with little sense of chance of growth or redemption (which there was in efforts and outcome of the federal investigation).

The coda, designed to wrap up what happened to the people in the film, was not a very good ending to the film either, making an oddly and subtly whimisical left turn in a film that rightly had not earned that at all.

The theater was packed, but not one person applauded, and most everyone got up and left quickly without contemplation.

Welp, its just one opinion!

ilarynx

thrang said:

I saw this over the weekend with my son and his girlfriend. While not bad in any way, and the acting is excellent throughout, I was underwhelmed by the actual script. I don't mind very long films, but this Killers did not earn the length even remotely. The real story is unquestionably worth hearing, but without getting into details, they probably should have stuck the the structure of the book (as I understand it), as it would have provided a narrative with discovery and sense of propulsion. The first two plus hours of Killers, while technically well done and acted, becomes a largely inert and repetitive affair. Only when the feds arrive is there more structure that frames the story, but by then it's somewhat too late.

It also tries to apply a moral ambiguity (I think?) in DiCaprio's character which does not really jibe with the intentions and actions throughout, and, as I understand, not with the real Burkhardt. In essence, other then being sympathetic to the plight of the Osage, the film is filled with people you simply dislike - which is fine to a certain level, as these were terrible people - but in a film narrative (and a very long one at that) it does not provide much for an audience to latch onto more deeply, and with little sense of chance of growth or redemption (which there was in efforts and outcome of the federal investigation).

The coda. designed to wrap up what happened to the people in the film, was not a very good ending to the film either, making an oddly and subtly whimisical left turn in a film that rightly had not earned that at all.

The theater was packed, but not one person applauded, and most everyone got up and left quickly without contemplation.

Welp, its just one opinion!

Thanks for the heads-up. There seems to be a tendency to drag scenes and episodes out to the detriment of good pacing. One example of this is the documentary "Wormwood" by Errol Morris. I like Morris's work and "Wormwood" is a good story, but the 6 episodes could have easily been told in 5, or maybe even 4. It's as if the contract was signed for a certain number of episodes/hours and the director then must stretch the story out to meet that target. 

I'll watch "Killer Moon" when it streams, but will know that the pacing may not be optimum. Thanks. 

P.S. Has anyone told you that you bear a striking resemblance to Brian Peter George St. John?   ;^)

thrang

ilarynx said:

thrang said:

I saw this over the weekend with my son and his girlfriend. While not bad in any way, and the acting is excellent throughout, I was underwhelmed by the actual script. I don't mind very long films, but this Killers did not earn the length even remotely. The real story is unquestionably worth hearing, but without getting into details, they probably should have stuck the the structure of the book (as I understand it), as it would have provided a narrative with discovery and sense of propulsion. The first two plus hours of Killers, while technically well done and acted, becomes a largely inert and repetitive affair. Only when the feds arrive is there more structure that frames the story, but by then it's somewhat too late.

It also tries to apply a moral ambiguity (I think?) in DiCaprio's character which does not really jibe with the intentions and actions throughout, and, as I understand, not with the real Burkhardt. In essence, other then being sympathetic to the plight of the Osage, the film is filled with people you simply dislike - which is fine to a certain level, as these were terrible people - but in a film narrative (and a very long one at that) it does not provide much for an audience to latch onto more deeply, and with little sense of chance of growth or redemption (which there was in efforts and outcome of the federal investigation).

The coda. designed to wrap up what happened to the people in the film, was not a very good ending to the film either, making an oddly and subtly whimisical left turn in a film that rightly had not earned that at all.

The theater was packed, but not one person applauded, and most everyone got up and left quickly without contemplation.

Welp, its just one opinion!

Thanks for the heads-up. There seems to be a tendency to drag scenes and episodes out to the detriment of good pacing. One example of this is the documentary "Wormwood" by Errol Morris. I like Morris's work and "Wormwood" is a good story, but the 6 episodes could have easily been told in 5, or maybe even 4. It's as if the contract was signed for a certain number of episodes/hours and the director then must stretch the story out to meet that target. 

I'll watch "Killer Moon" when it streams, but will know that the pacing may not be optimum. Thanks. 

P.S. Has anyone told you that you bear a striking resemblance to Brian Peter George St. John?   ;^)

Don't forget Baptiste!

I don't mind slow pace at all as long as there is still an underlying narrative that holds interest, and there is a sense of progression, learning, discovery, surprise, etc. else why have a "moving picture?"

But your comment on a tendency for things to be dragged out reminds me of one of the Cohen brothers comments during a Roger Deakins podcast episode, talking about the "challenge" of many streaming shows - It was something along the lines of (paraphrasing): Movies generally have a beginning, middle and end. Most streaming shows have a beginning, a middle, a middle, a middle, a middle, and an end.

Silo on Apple TV suffered from that. Interminable nothingness for most do the middle of the season... but so streaming shows suffer the same. The smaller episode counts of Blackbird was very different - excellent and a sense of a developing narrative.

discountopinion

For me this launch is something i will watch with great interest as a shareholder. 

On paper it seems like an excellent way to cover costs of streaming contentt and also getting a semi funded marketing happening and buzz included for the streaming service.
Good stuff all around in my book and maybe this will be the default playbook for more ambitious content.

Seems like early signs are promising and this is great as it may help pave the way for more content that may be a bit less commercially mainstream. 

macgui

thrang said:

I saw this over the weekend...

Thanks for a well thought out review. Everybody has a right to their opinion but when unsupported its helpfulness is often nil. I very much appreciated what you thought and why.

Black Bird was excellent, but was a mini/limited series by design, so it's goals and challenges weren't the same as a show hoping to have more than one seasons/series.  Taron Egerton has been excellent in everything I've seen him do.

By "Baptiste" did your mean Baptiste with Tchéky Karyo? It only had two seasons but it was very good.