Rumor: Netflix May Buy Martin Scorsese’s ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ From Paramount, Budget Nearing $225 Million

Netflix and Martin Scorsese may be teaming up again but, this time, in the midst of messier circumstances.

Take this with a grain of salt as it is nothing more than a rumor, albeit one which was started by a fairly credible source. Supposedly, the budget for Scorsese's upcoming Paramount-distributed "Killers of the Flower Moon” has soared to a worrisome $225M. This had led Paramount to get a little anxious about the commercial prospects of the film which has led Scorsese to call on Netflix to take over rights and production of the film.

Scorsese’s last movie (“The Irishman”) was a Netflix original and had a similar budget of $225 million. Has the 77-year-old director been so spoiled by the creative and budgetary freedoms given to him by Netflix that he’d rather just not bother with all the headaches that come in working with a major studio like Paramount? Scorsese has maybe learned not to worry and just love Netflix.

Scorsese is set to shoot “Killers of the Flower Moon” next month (via Premiere). The film, his adaptation of David Grann's grisly murder-mystery novel, will star Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro. The screenplay, written by Eric Roth, is set in 1920s Oklahoma and tells the story of Osage Indians who suddenly start to get murdered. A corrupt FBI is tasked to investigate.

Even though the film’s production is set to end before the summer, Scorsese and his longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker tend to spend a lot of time in the editing room during post-production, this film should be no exception. There is currently no release date for “Killers of the Flower Moon,” but one assumes a 2021 release is planned.