Martin Scorsese's ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Starring De Niro and DiCaprio Starts Shooting in March

Martin Scorsese was supposed to start shooting the $200 million production of “Killers of the Flower Moon” back in March, but then the pandemic hit and, much like every other shoot in Tinsel Town, a delay happened. ‘Killers, which is set to star Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio, is an adaptation of David Grann’s novel, scripted by Eric Roth.

Via a report from Osage News, production for ‘Killers’ was reported to start in March of 2021. It turns out that crew on the Scorsese film is now exploring the necessary safety protocols to safely kick production off — after all, Scorsese and De Niro are no spring chickens, both are in their 70s and both have underlying conditions (Scorsese has asthma) that could be worsened by the COVID-19 virus.

Now, rumors about the ‘Flower Moon’ script being overhauled have, more or less, been confirmed. Eric Roth’s original script was the primary source for Paramount Pictures’ decision to sell the film to Apple. In Roth’s version of the film, DiCaprio was starring as the hero, a federal agent working for the newly-established FBI, trying to solve murders in the native reserve of Osage Nation. DiCaprio’s script overhaul reportedly changed the perspective of the film as the actor now would take on the nephew of the villainous killer played by De Niro.

Per THR: “In the revised version, DiCaprio would portray villain Robert De Niro’s nephew, torn between love and the evil machinations of his uncle. A source with knowledge of the situation says Paramount felt that turned the film into a moody and less commercial character study…Once Scorsese and DiCaprio revised ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ Paramount empowered DiCaprio’s longtime manager, Rick Yorn, to shop the project. No doubt the studio hoped no one would tackle it, which might persuade Scorsese to come back to the original idea and the hoped-for budget.”

A four-month production is planned for the film, which would mean the shoot would wrap up in mid-2021. Scorsese and editor Thelma Schoonmaker tend to have fairly extensive editing periods, so one assumes they will be taking their time with this one as well. A likely release date for the film would happen in late 2021 or 2022.

Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto has mentioned about the film’s scope and ambiance, “Certainly, [“Killers of the Flower Moon”] will be very delicate too because, well, even Martin Scorsese as a director, he has asthma. So we have to be very careful with him.” He added he’ll be using remote heads for close-ups due to safety, saying, “That’s the kind of thing that I learned in the [Taylor Swift music] video that I think I will keep on applying, especially in a film like that. We don’t want De Niro or anybody to touch anything right now.”

Earlier this year, Apple came onboard to finance the film, while Paramount maintained theatrical distribution rights for the film.