Few movies coming out this year, maybe only “The Killer” and “Oppenheimer,” match the hype of Martin Scorsese‘s “Killers Of The Flower Moon.” And it’s hyped with good reason, too. The upcoming film sees Scorsese reunites with leading man Leonardo DiCaprio, and Robert De Niro, as he adapts David Grann‘s acclaimed 2017 book for the big screen. The movie boasts Jesse Plemons, Lily Gladstone, and Brendan Fraser in its supporting cast. And Apple Studios shelled out $200 million for the movie’s budget, making it their biggest budget for a film so far.
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And now “Flower Moon” may have its world premiere date ready. Variety reports that Scorsese has a suite reserved at one of the hotels along the Cannes Croisette. That leads some to believe the Cannes Film Festival will host the world premiere of the director’s next film. Of course, that’s all speculation at the moment. But Cannes director Theirry Fremaux did travel to LA earlier this month to screen Scorsese’s film and chat about some other potential Hollywood premieres for the festival in May, so anything’s possible.
But Cannes isn’t the only big festival in the running to premiere “Flower Moon.” Venice Film Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera was also in LA recently for meetings with studio heads, which led to some awkwardness for him and Fremaux. Neither festival has made a formal offer for Scorsese’s latest, though, so perhaps Scorsese simply booked his Cannes hotel room because he’ll be there to screen other things.
Scorsese has a solid history at the Cannes Film Festival. He won the Best Director Palme for “After Hours” at the festival in 1985, the last time he premiered a movie at Cannes. Other early films from Scorsese that had a Cannes premiere include “Taxi Driver,” which won the Palme d’Or in 1976, and “The King Of Comedy.” Fremaux also wanted “The Irishman” to premiere at Cannes in 2019, but the film eventually bowed at the New York Film Festival instead. Scorsese’s leading man DiCaprio also wouldn’t mind a Cannes premiere for “Flower Moon.” The actor’s last foray at the festival was 2019’s “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” with Quentin Tarantino, a huge success for DiCaprio.
But another issue may hinder a Cannes debut for “Flower Moon”: France’s windowing rules that restrict streamers from playing until 15 months after their release in theaters. Will Apple decide to hold back Scorsese’s movie on its service for over year just for a premiere at the world’s biggest film festival? If Apple decides to skip a French theatrical window, then “Flower Moon” would only be allowed to premiere at Cannes out of competition. So, what’s most worth it for Scorsese, Apple, and Cannes? Cannes president Irish Knobloch could also bend the rules a bit, but he’s been staunch about them since he took over; so much so that Netflix hasn’t screened movies at Cannes since 2017.
Bear in mind that Apple doesn’t have an official release date for “Killers Of The Flower Moon” yet for the US, France, or anywhere. So Apple could potentially wait for a later premiere date if it sees Scorsese’s film as a potential award-winner for them, like “Coda” last year. Or Apple could be so confident in Scorsese’s film that they premiere it at Cannes anyway. After all, Bong Joon-ho‘s “Parasite” premiered at Cannes in 2019 and went on to win the Best Picture Oscar that year. Also, Showbiz 411 reports that if Scorsese wants a Cannes bow for “Flower Moon,” then he may need to trim a little off the movie’s three-hour runtime. But it’s not as if long films haven’t premiered at Cannes before…
The Cannes Film Festival usually unveils its lineup toward the end of April, with the 2023 version happening on May 16-27. Maybe Apple announces the premiere fate for “Killers Of The Flower Moon” before then. Or maybe all of us Scorsese fans will have to wait. All anyone knows right now is that the director’s next film is on the way soon, and that’s more than enough to be excited about.
