In the wake of the news that Apple is taking Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” adaptation, a new article has gone into detail as to why Paramount Pictures pulled back their investment in the film.
Based on “The Lost City of Z” author David Grann’s non-fiction book, the 1920s true story focuses on a string of murders of members of the Osage nation in Oklahoma after oil was discovered beneath their land. The series of slayings was one of the fledgeling FBI’s first major homicide investigations.
Those earlier reports suggested Paramount reportedly grew concerned at the ballooning costs which has seen the film’s budget rise to $225 million following re-writes by Scorsese. Now though, THR indicates it was a change in creative direction in those re-writes that ultimately led to the need for Apple’s intervention.
It seems the new script altered the star’s role with DiCaprio shifting from a good guy working for the developing FBI, to more of villain – a nephew of Robert De Niro’s character who is torn between love and the evil machinations of his uncle.
Paramount reportedly felt the changes in the script made the film a ‘moody and less commercial character study’. Now though, Paramount will only distribute the film theatrically (and cover marketing) with Apple covering the entire production budget and serving as the creative studio on the film. After its cinema run, the project will land on Apple TV+.
As the project is still in development, DiCaprio is also tipped to join Jennifer Lawrence and Cate Blanchett in Adam McKay’s new film “Don’t Look Up” first before he goes to work on ‘Flower Moon’. ‘Look’ is a satire about two scientists that discover an asteroid is heading straight to Earth and go on a media tour to try to convince people that the end is near.
