Killers of the Flower Moon: release date, cast, plot and everything we know about the Martin Scorsese movie

Lily Gladstone Leonardo DiCaprio in Killers of the Flower Moon
Lily Gladstone Leonardo DiCaprio in Killers of the Flower Moon (Image credit: Courtesy of Apple TV Plus)

Just being a Martin Scorsese movie would make Killers of the Flower Moon one of the most anticipated new movies of 2023. But seeing the famed director reteam with not one but two of his all-time favorite collaborators — Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio — means Killers of the Flower Moon is a movie that you are definitely not going to want to miss.

The buzz around Killers of the Flower Moon has been around for a while, but 2023 is finally going to bring Scorsese's latest project to movie fans everywhere after a four-year wait from his last movie, 2019's The Irishman.

Here is everything that we know about Killers of the Flower Moon.

Killers of the Flower Moon release date

Let the countdown for Killers of the Flower Moon officially begin, as the movie is getting a limited release in movie theaters worldwide on October 6 before expanding to more theaters on October 20, per Apple TV.

We don't know when the Martin Scorsese movie is going to be made available to stream on Apple TV Plus yet, as the streamer has made a commitment to an exclusive run for Killers of the Flower Moon.

Critics and others may have the chance to see Killers of the Flower Moon earlier than that, as the movie is reportedly eyeing a world premiere as part of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival in France. The lineup for the world-famous film festival is not revealed until April, however, so we'll have to wait until then for confirmation.

Killers of the Flower Moon plot

Killers of the Flower Moon is based on the best-selling book by David Grann. Here is the official plot synopsis from Apple:

"Killers of the Flower Moon is set in 1920s Oklahoma and depicts the serial murder of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation, a string of brutal crimes that came to be known as the Reign of Terror."

Scorsese and Eric Roth (Dune, Forrest Gump) are credited as co-writers of the script.

The full title of Grann's book is Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI (opens in new tab)

Killers of the Flower Moon cast

To no one's surprise, Killers of the Flower Moon has a bunch of big names attached as part of its cast, but no two are bigger than frequent Scorsese collaborators Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio.

DiCaprio is set to play Ernset Burkhart, the patriarch of a family at the center of the murders taking place. DiCaprio has worked with Scorsese five times, in Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, Shutter Island and The Wolf of Wall Street

Beating that number though is Robert De Niro, who has starred in nine Scorsese movies: Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, New York, New York, Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, Goodfellas, Cape Fear, Casino and The Irishman. De Niro has also acted with DiCaprio a couple of times in This Boy's Life and Marvin's Room. In Killers of the Flower Moon, De Niro is playing the character of William Hale.

Other high-profile members of the cast include Lily Gladstone (Certain Women) as Mollie Burkhart, Jesse Plemmons (The Power of the Dog) as FBI agent Tom White, John Lithgow (The Old Man) as Prosectuor Leaward and Brendan Fraser (The Whale) as W.S. Hamilton.

Here are additional members of the Killers of the Flower Moon cast:

Killers of the Flower Moon trailer

We are waiting with bated breath for the Killers of the Flower Moon trailer. Once it is made available we'll share it here. 

Martin Scorsese movies

Martin Scorsese is one of the most revered directors in Hollywood history. The Oscar-winner has made numerous movies now considered classics over his more than 50 years behind the camera. Here is a complete rundown of all the feature, narrative movies he directed (but check out IMDb (opens in new tab) for all of the projects that he has had his hand in): 

  • Who's That Knocking at My Door (1967)
  • Boxcar Bertha (1972)
  • Mean Streets (1973)
  • Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)
  • Taxi Driver (1976)
  • New York, New York (1977)
  • Raging Bull (1980)
  • The King of Comedy (1982)
  • After Hours (1985)
  • The Color of Money (1986)
  • The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
  • Goodfellas (1990)
  • Cape Fear (1991)
  • The Age of Innocence (1993)
  • Casino (1995)
  • Kundun (1997)
  • Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
  • Gangs of New York (2002)
  • The Aviator (2004)
  • The Departed (2006)
  • Shutter Island (2010)
  • Hugo (2011)
  • The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
  • Silence (2016)
  • The Irishman (2019)
Michael Balderston

Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Peaky Blinders, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Saturday Night Live, Only Murders in the Building and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd (opens in new tab).