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| Lily Gladstone and Leonardo DiCaprio in Killers Of The Flower Moon Photo: © 2023 Apple Studios) |
After the rumour mill had gone into overdrive these past few weeks, the organisers of the 76th Cannes Film Festival finally have confirmed that Martin Scorsese will present in person the world premiere of his latest film Killers of Of The Flower Moon.
The screening on 20 May in the Grand Theatre Lumiere will mark the return of the filmmaker to the Official Selection for the first time since the presentation of After Hours in 1986.
Not only will Scorsese be present but he will be accompanied by Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins, Jillian Dion, Tantoo Cardinal, along with other members of the cast and members of the filmmaking team.
Based on David Grann’s best-selling book and written for the screen by Eric Roth and Scorsese, 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, who is a Cannes favourite, was awarded the Palme d'or in 1976 with Taxi Driver. He subsequently came back to the Official Selection on a regular basis and won the Best Director's Award for After Hours, ten years later.
In 1998, he was the president of the Jury that presented the Palme d'Or to Greek director Theo Angelopoulos for Eternity And A Day. Four years later, he chaired the Jury for the Cinéfondation and Short Films alongside with the Iranian director, Abbas Kiarostami.
Since 1990, Martin Scorsese has directed The Film Foundation, an organisation dedicated to protecting and preserving of the world's motion picture history. In this capacity, he has represented numerous films at Cannes Classics.
The organisers are said to be delighted to have Scorsese and the Killers Of The Flower Moon team on the red carpet, which it is suggested “already promises to be memorable.”
The film is an Apple Original production but will first be released exclusively in cinemas, in partnership with Paramount Pictures. The release starts on 6 October and then goes wide from 20 October 20, in the UK and US. The French release is set on 18 October 18, 2023 and subsequently will stream globally on Apple TV+.
It has not yet been revealed whether the film will premiere in or out of competition but all will become apparent when the full line-up is revealed in the middle of April.
The film had been rumoured to be in the opening slot but that prized honour has yet to be announced with contenders said to include Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny, and Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City which stars Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie, Scarlett Johansson and Tilda Swinton.
The Cannes Film Festival runs from 16 to 27 May.
